Wavelink advances wireless LAN security.

wavelink Corporation, a provider of mobile infrastructure software for the enterprise, has announced two solutions that dramatically improve the security of wireless local area networks (WLANs) and handheld devices. The solutions provide for Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) key rotation and the robust detection of rogue access points anywhere on an organization's wireless LAN. Like all Wavelink products, the security solutions are cross-vendor and support legacy devices from leading mobile equipment providers, including Cisco, Symbol, Fujitsu, Intermec, PSC, and others. The solutions enable thousands of organizations already using wireless LANs and those considering new deployments to dramatically enhance security in two of the most vulnerable areas.

"These enhancements offer strong solutions to significant security vulnerabilities of wireless LANs. The combination of robust rogue access point detection with a simple solution to the WEP key problem improves an already strong value proposition for Wavelink's products," says Michael Disabato, wireless technology and network security expert for the Burton Group.

"Wavelink's cross-platform WEP key rotation enhancement is well suited for organizations looking for secure connections between their Cisco Aironet wireless LAN infrastructure and legacy handheld devices such as those found in retail and on the factory floor," said Bill Rossi, vice president and general manager, Cisco Wireless Networking Business Unit. "When paired with Cisco's IEEE 802.1x/EAP standards-based security solution, customers gain a seamless, interoperable and scalable solution that ultimately lets the right people access the right data appropriately and securely from any device anywhere on their network."

"Wavelink is offering a very innovative approach to wireless LAN security by combining a strong wireless network management suite with creative security techniques," said Ray Martino, vice president of network products, Symbol Technologies, Inc. "Their approach will fit into a variety of WLAN deployment scenarios. As Symbol offers a complete wireless LAN system solution--wireless mobile computing devices, access points, software and services--the Wavelink solution nicely augments our application-specific wireless security strategy."

Wavelink's WEP key rotation solution, which is already in trials at a major financial services firm and a national retailer, offers an immediate, simple and cost-effective technique to reduce the known vulnerabilities of WEP in the IEEE 802.11a and 802.11b standards by automating the rotation of WEP keys before a hacker has time to collect sufficient data to break the encryption. The solution works with or without an authentication server, and in single- and multi-vendor environments. While this feature offers enterprises an immediate wireless security solution, Wavelink continues to support all emerging wireless security standards and endorses the work of wireless security standards bodies.

Wavelink's rogue access point detection offering is the only one of its kind that does not require special equipment or a dedicated effort from an IT administrator. The solution uses existing wireless LAN resources to constantly monitor airwaves for unauthorized users while simultaneously surveying wired network traffic for activity from unauthorized wireless devices. The solution also enables the deactivation of rogue access points from a central management console. Rogue access points, unauthorized access points that operate undetected on a wireless LAN, represent a particularly dangerous security breach because of their ability to provide direct, unauthorized access to information on an organization's wired network.

"Although still growing, the wireless LAN market has been struggling to overcome a setback since the WEP key problem surfaced. Wavelink's offering provides a security framework for data privacy that supports both legacy devices and new equipment without the requirement of an authentication server," says Disabato of the Burton Group.

"Until recently, there had been little attention focused on the need for robust network management and security solutions in wireless LAN systems. However, the tremendous growth of these networks and a more educated hacker population have made comprehensive systems and security management absolutely critical," said David Bullis, president and CEO of Wavelink. "Wavelink's cross-vendor network management capabilities allow its customers to deploy and manage their increasingly sophisticated wireless LANs with greater confidence and at lower cost."

Wavelink's WEP key rotation solution is currently available as an enhancement to Wavelink's current products, Mobile Manager 5.0 and Wavelink Avalanche 3.0. Existing Wavelink customers can receive the new security features as a software upgrade. Wavelink's rogue access point detection solution will also be a software enhancement to the existing products and will be available in the Fall of 2002.