User Guide

OmniAccess SafeGuard OS Administration Guide
342
Chapter 9: End Point Validation
Determining the Posture of a Host
This chapter describes the concepts and procedures for configuring End Point Validation
(EPV).
The EPV component enforces a corporation's or entity’s end point security compliance
rules.
When a user’s system is current and in compliance with your corporate or
enterprise security philosophy, it is said to be in good posture. EPV checks the versions
and operational status of end point's (any IP enabled device) security software to ensure
that the software is up-to-date. Some checks that EPV performs are:
■ Out-of-date virus definition files
■ Out-of-date operating system (Service packs and hot fixes)
■ Disabled or missing antivirus software
■ Disabled or missing firewall
■ Malicious key loggers
■ Out-of-date antivirus scan engines
■ Windows registry key values
The EPV component is disabled by default. To take advantage of EPV, you must
configure its features. EPV is initiated when a user opens a browser for the first time in a
session. If both EPV and Captive Portal are configured, the end point hosts are logged in
to Captive Portal before being checked by EPV for software compliance. For more
information about Captive Portal and its configuration, see Configuring Captive Portal on
page 220.
The system flow of EPV is:
1 A user on an end point host, such as a desktop system, starts the machine and
logs into the network.
2 Either the user authenticates (passive authentication) directly to the network, or
the user opens a Web browser, which attempts to access the Internet and the user
authenticates (active authentication) using Captive Portal. In either case, a role is
assigned to the user and the system applies the policies that are pertinent to that
role.
SECURITY: EPV and malware policies have a higher ranking and priority
than user policies. Although a user has authenticated to the system, been
assigned a role, and have one or more user policies assigned, those user
policies could be overruled by a policy having a higher ranking. Policy
ranking is discussed in detail in Precedence on page 300.