• Resource Overview
• Network Design
• Wireless Security
• Access Level Control
• Monitored Solutions
• Metrics Reporting
• Bandwidth Usage
• Energy Consumption
• Education Outreach

Access Level Control

As more and more homes are wired with a digital network, and more and more personal computers and appliances that are IP-addressable (lighting controls, alarm systems, VoIP phones, audio and video equipment, etc.) are added to the network, the easier it becomes for intruders to get onto the network and look around for private information or media content that can be exploited. And while these IP-addressable appliances serve a valuable purpose, the nature of there being a portal has to be addressed in a reliable secure fashion. Therefore, individual access rights need to be secured to minimize risks of unauthorized intrusion.

Consider that a Dealer’s employees have different roles that require varying levels of access controls, as do manufacturing partners, suppliers, outsourced service providers and customers. Further complicating matters, wireless laptops and smart phones and myriad other devices, many of which have not been identified in order to gain access to the network by a family member, means that the Dealer has no control over what security software might be on a given device.

Those in charge of an access control system have to take all of these factors into consideration before deciding what level of access a given user should be granted at any particular time. At the same time, if the system isn’t easy to use and administer, it won’t be long before user roles and access rights become out of sync with reality. That means it must be simple to create and assign roles, and to ensure that users’ access requirements are updated as their roles change. Finally, the access control system must be able to work in a multi-vendor environment and within the existing IT infrastructure.

In addition to the Dealer’s employees and third-party vendors, guests of the family have to have access to the network at various times. Each group requires different levels of network and resource access. To more easily keep track of all of these access requirements, a unified permissible access control system should be able to support role-based access.

A cooperative unified permissible access control solution provides a host of benefits to the distributed home area network in terms of both security and accessibility. It also helps minimize the insider threat related to general Internet access, by ensuring that users access only those resources they are authorized to access.