trusted network connect (NAC) (TNC)

Trusted Network Connect (TNC) is a concept from the Trusting Computing Group for network security. Unlike Network Access Control( NAC) and Network Access Protection( NAP), the TNC concept is an open architecture for network access control.

The TNC concept is designed to help network administrators ensure the integrity and compliance of endpoints and their connectivity with respect to agreed-upon policies. It can authenticate clients and classify their connection to the server as trustworthy. The TNC framework ensures interoperability between endpoints from a wide range of vendors. The machines can communicate their configuration to the server, which determines trustworthiness and can extend or restrict access to network resources.

The basis of Trusted Network Connect is the symbiosis between integrity and identity. Integrity is determined by endpoint policies, whereas identity ensures that endpoints are used only by authenticated users.