I would like to avail your valuable inputs to understand on the Client provisioning part for the Mobile Devices/ Laptop. I understand from your reply that MDM integration is not available in the current release ISE 1.1 - That is correct.
Kindly let me know your views or any documents on the following scenarios with the current release in mind
1. User with Mobile devices connecting to Wireless ( both Employee and Guest ) , How the Flow differs for the Employee and Guest. How the client provisioning is done ( i.e. Like Posturing or Compliance Check ).
The posturing and compliance check is done based on the user authentication information (i.e. AD memberOf vs Guest user) combined with the users endpoint (windows, mac osx, or a mobile device), ISE then has a few decisions to make based on the authorization policies. For example, if a Domain User coming from a Windows 7 machine joins the network, then can either use the nac agent, or the web agent. Then you can scan for registry settings, file settings, program requirements, hotfix compliance...and the list goes on. If the user fails a check then you can either assign an acl for the user so they only have guest access, or you can place them into a remediation vlan the options are entirely up to the requirements and however the solution is implemented.
2. User with Laptop connecting to Wireless ( both Employee and Guest ). How the client provisioning is done ( i.e. Like Posturing or Compliance Check ).
Guests are usually redirected to the guest portal which they authenticate and their user group falls within the Guest container that is on the ISE internal database, that is usually coupled with an authorization profile that grants them internet access. For the client provisioning, that is usually done based on the operating system, via profiling (dhcp, and user agent string., netmap...etc) and can be fine tuned for all laptops or to a specific set of users based on their group membership.
3. What are advantages of having ISE also in place for Mobile devices, since most of the Mobile related tasks ( like Authentication, Authorization, Profiling and Posture ) are carried out by MDM. I am checking for the significant advantage of having ISE for Client network having only Mobile devices. Kindly clarify.
Currently the advantage of Cisco ISE is that it supports profiling within wireless and really fits well within a network that has mostly Cisco products since they are all part of of the Borderless security initiative being driven on the backend. The product teams for wireless, wired, security (vpn..etc) and ISE are pretty close in building their solutions so that you can get connected with any device any where (sorry for the sales pitch). The latests wireless code is improving and is going to have support similar to the ios sensor for wired devices where dhcp, cdp, and other attributes can be sent in the radius packet for better profiling decisions. With integration for an MDM platform coming soon, and also support for TACACS rumored (have to verify with your account rep) you have options that really stand out from a unit that only supports MDM. Cisco ISE also comes with a wireless product ID so that makes the budget work when it comes to deploying ISE if you arent looking for enforcement on your wired devices.
4. Do you recommend 802.1X Authentication to use for the Employee and Contractor? The Guest user authentication as Open ?
For internal users and vendors the best option by far is dot1x, almost all operating systems are capable of performing dot1x and the 1.1.1 MR has a piece now that can provision the supplicant for the users, by using scep to enroll certificates or configure peap settings.
There is a feature within the guest portal that allows you to statically assign guests into endpoint group, that feature is called device registration web authentication. It seems like an open network but uses mac filtering to assign these devices to an endpoint without requiring users to enter any credentials. They are presented with an AUP page, once they accept their mac address is mapped to the endpoint group
5. How can we ensure the Encryption of traffic from the Guest user to the NAD ( Network Access devices ) ?
This may be a wireless question but I am sure the encryption is done using AES and using dot1x as the key management here is a brief background for this - http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk722/tk809/technologies_configuration_example09186a00807f42e9.shtml#L2
You can also use the anyconnect client which can provide macsec which is layer 2 encryption for wired - http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/vpndevc/ps6032/ps6094/ps6120/qa_c67-622477_ns1049_Networking_Solutions_Q_and_A.html
6. We are also looking for VDI ( Citrix, VMware ) solution for the client ( both Employee and Guest ) , how ISE can play a role in securing the VDI environment.
For most thin clients you can perform dot1x authentication on the device itself, however that is something the manufacturer will have to support. This is a little gray for me.
7. Is that any integration required with Citrix or VMware. How the VDI can be offered based on the User role ( i.e. Employee, Contractor or Guest ), since Guest database is available only with ISE, how the checks are made from the VDI environment.
IN ISE there is an identity sequence which can authenticate users in AD first, if the user is not found then it can look in the internal database.
Our solution demands MDM in the integrated solution, As on today ISE cant be integrated with MDM. so what kind of solution we can propose to have MDM and Cisco ISE .Do the clients now enter the network should have already installed the MDM agent (or) any other way of pushing the same to the Client.
Today there is no integration between the devices, the last release time I heard was December for this feature. However it would be best to confirm with your Cisco Account rep on this issue.
Thanks,
Tarik Admani
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