Policy Enforcement using 802.1X

Overview

802.1X is an IEEE standard for port-based network access control. It provides an authentication mechanism for devices and users attempting to connect to wired and wireless LANs so that only authorized connections are allowed.

The basic components of 802.1X are:

• Endpoints- The endpoint is the device being authenticated. The supplicant is an agent running on the endpoint. For example,Ivanti Secure Access Client, native supplicant, and third party supplicant.
• Authenticator/Switch-The authenticator is a network device a managed switch or wireless access point that facilitates authentication by relaying credentials between the supplicant and authentication server.
• Authentication Server- IPS acts as an authentication server (typically a RADIUS server) and validates the credentials of the supplicant requesting access.

The 802.1X standard specifies the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) as its encrypted message format for transmission between supplicant and authenticator.