Wireless network access control or 802.1X network access control is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers standard for network access control that covers wired and wireless access points. This standard defines the authentication controls for users or devices that try to access a LAN (local area network) or WLAN (wide area network).
Traditional network access control doesn’t address issues caused by wireless network access, BYOD (bring your own device), and cloud computing. This expanded attack surface results in increased exposure of the perimeter to threats.
The new distributed attack surface results in an evolution of what the NAC needs to protect. Formerly, the network access control only had to monitor and protect a perimeter of connected devices. Nowadays, the NAC also needs to protect the network from wireless devices and access points. Wireless NACs do exactly that.