AirMagnet Unveils New Distributed Wireless LAN Security and Performance Solution.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 8, 2004

Enterprise-Wide Wi-Fi Dashboard, Rogue Blocking/Tracing and

Active Notification Among More Than 20 New Features

AirMagnet, the leader in wireless LAN (WLAN) security and performance solutions, today announced an entirely new version of its Distributed WLAN security and performance system. AirMagnet Distributed 4.0(1) includes a completely new network dashboard, advanced rogue access point (AP) blocking and tracing, extended security and performance policy management, and more than a dozen other new features that allow increasingly detailed analysis and troubleshooting of wireless networks.

"With Distributed 4.0, AirMagnet continues to set the standard for WLAN performance and security management solutions," said Wai Sing Lee, analyst for Frost and Sullivan. "Any organization considering an enterprise-wide rollout of wireless LANs should take a serious look at this product."

The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is among a group of early customers using the new version of AirMagnet Distributed. The Monterey, Calif.-based institution is using the product to secure and monitor its wireless LAN, survey Wi-Fi networks from unmanned aircraft, and as a teaching tool, to teach students about challenges of wireless network operation. NPS offers graduate, executive and professional education programs to students from all United States military services, and the services of nearly 45 other countries.

"AirMagnet Distributed 4.0 has been significantly redesigned, and is a well-developed product," said Alex Bordetsky, professor of information sciences. "The new version provides comprehensive functionality, and its detailed, network-wide views are superb. Perhaps the greatest thing about AirMagnet Distributed is that it provides a detailed explanation of how to solve most any performance monitoring problems that might arise on a Wi-Fi network."

AirMagnet Distributed incorporates the company's patent-pending, award-winning AirWISE(R) software engine into fixed, remote sensors capable of securing and monitoring an entire WLAN, across multiple locations. Distributed's mobile console can manage an unlimited number of sensors from a single workstation or laptop. In version 4.0, the AirMagnet user interface (UI) now includes a Wi-Fi "dashboard" able to show at a glance the overall health and safety of a customer's wireless network. The dashboard also includes advanced, drill-down tools to answer the "who", "what", "when", "where" and "why" of WLAN problem identification. Distributed 4.0 introduces several categories of new features to comprehensively address the key challenges that arise in the course of deploying, monitoring, managing and protecting Wi-Fi networks.

Next Generation Rogue Identification, Tracing and Blocking

AirMagnet's remote sensors continually monitor the air and analyze wireless traffic to develop a detailed profile of all wireless devices within radio range. AirMagnet sensors can determine whether wireless devices are approved client devices, "friendly" devices within radio range or potentially harmful "rogue" devices. AirMagnet identifies rogues by radio band, MAC address, SSID, and manufacturer. When a rogue is detected, AirMagnet Distributed can block the rogue directly, perform a wired-side trace to locate the device, locate and disable the device with AirMagnet's mobile products or reconfigure existing network infrastructure to turn off the device.

Advanced Policy Management

This new version of Distributed also incorporates a tiered system of policy management that allows network managers to set required levels of security and performance and tailor policies for each portion of the wireless network. Policies address nearly 100 potential wireless security and performance issues and can be applied globally or targeted to specific SSID groups. Customers can define any number of system responses to each alarm, including notification via e-mail, SNMP, short-message-service (SMS) pager, event log, or several other communications methods.

New Security Alarms

AirMagnet Distributed 4.0 includes more than a dozen new security alarms, including WPA Vulnerabilities, Soft APs, new Denial-of-Service Attacks, Unencrypted Multicast/Broadcasts, Abnormal Traffic Patterns, and Publicly Secure Packet Forwarding (PSPF) Violations. AirMagnet continues to deliver the industry's most comprehensive list of security and performance alarms, with 98 in the current release.

Efficient Scalable Architecture

AirMagnet Distributed 4.0 is designed to solve WLAN problems in the most efficient manner possible. Distributed sensors include very powerful computing engines, able to fully analyze all wireless traffic without assistance from a central server. This minimizes network backbone traffic, and allows AirMagnet systems to communicate efficiently, and reliably, across worldwide WANs. AirMagnet sensors "push" lightweight alarm and trending information to a central server, letting administrators drill down remotely through the UI to examine specific problems identified by individual sensors. For instance, a network administrator sitting in a coffee shop in California can be notified in real time, via a pager message, that a security breach is taking place in a data center in Singapore. That administrator can then investigate the problem directly, using a remote console connection to the sensor in Singapore.

"We've made some significant enhancements to version 4.0 of AirMagnet Distributed, and more than 18 customers are already using it," said Dean Au, chief executive officer of AirMagnet. "Distributed 4.0 includes the unprecedented ability to determine the level of risk posed by rogue devices, and delivers the most comprehensive security and performance analysis available in any WLAN product on the market today."

Pricing and Availability

AirMagnet Distributed systems start at $7,995. The starting price includes a management console, server software and four sensors. AirMagnet Distributed 4.0 is available now. For additional information please call AirMagnet at 408-400-0200 or e-mail [e-mail].

About AirMagnet

Founded in 2001, AirMagnet, Inc., provides the most trusted WLAN management and security software systems for the enterprise in handheld, laptop and distributed configurations. Used by IT professionals at more than 1,800 companies worldwide in manufacturing, financial, retail, service, health care, utility, transportation, education and government sectors, AirMagnet solves Wi-Fi connection problems, tracks down unauthorized access, simplifies site surveys, and locks in unprecedented levels of network performance, security and reliability. Unlike traditional packet scanners and protocol analyzers that have been adapted from their original purpose to analyze wired networks, AirMagnet solutions were designed specifically for wireless LANs. Additional information about AirMagnet and its products is available on the Web at www.AirMagnet.com.

(C) 2004 AirMagnet, Inc. All rights reserved. AirMagnet and AirWISE are registered trademarks, and the AirMagnet logo is a trademark, of AirMagnet, Inc. All other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

(1) The current release of AirMagnet Distributed, numbered 4.0, is the second generation of AirMagnet Distributed. It incorporates the fourth major release of AirMagnet's AirWISE software engine, which has powered all AirMagnet products since 2002, and the release number is aligned with its core expert system.