Addendum to the ProCurve Access Control Security Design Guide

Microsoft NAP

NAP Client Architecture

The NAP-capable endpoint includes several components, described in the sections below.

NAP Enforcement Clients (ECs)

There is one EC for each network access method. The NAP client ships with the following ECs:

IPsec NAP EC—IPsec-protected communications

EAPHost NAP EC—802.1X-authenticated connections

VPN NAP EC—remote-access VPN connections

DHCP NAP EC—DHCP-based IPv4 address configuration

The NA7P platform includes NAP EC APIs to permit vendors to construct and install proprietary ECs.

System Health Agents (SHAs)

A SHA monitors one or more elements of the client’s system health, such as antivirus signatures, software patches, firewall settings, browser settings, service packs, and local system settings. SHAs can be supplied by Microsoft or by third-party vendors.

Four of the Microsoft SHAs—OS, patch, antivirus, and update—are associated with the remediation servers and receive the latest update information during the time that the endpoint is connected to the network. The Firewall and Browser SHAs are not associated with remediation servers because they merely ensure that the client has the proper settings enabled.

Each time an SHA receives an update from the remediation server or detects that a setting has changed, it sends a new statement of health (SoH) to the NAP Agent. The SoH contains version numbers and other time-specific information about the element that the SHA monitors.

NAP Agent

The NAP Agent collects SoHs from the SHAs and compiles a system statement of health (SSoH). When the endpoint attempts to connect to the network, the appropriate EC queries the NAP Agent for the SSoH and presents it to the NAP enforcement point.

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