Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wireless Security Products Flood the Market

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 14:09:00 -0400

Wireless Security Products Flood the Market

Security is an issue with any network, and wireless is not an exception. New
products are hitting the market daily, and a review of the best and brightest was
written up in Ziff Davis recently. VigilantMinds, AirMagnet and Network
Instruments, Trapeze Networks, AirDefense and Aruba are all deploying products
that address the openness of wireless networks and help solve security problems.

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A Safer Wireless World
Tue Sep 16, 8:47 AM ET

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It's no secret that installing a wireless network
creates security concerns. And it's a no-brainer
to recognize that network traffic carried over the
air should be encrypted to prevent eavesdropping.

But more is required, and a handful of
vendors are stepping up to fill the void.
VigilantMinds recently announced AirXone,
an intrusion detection and prevention
product that provides special protection for
wireless networks. AirMagnet, Network
Instruments and other protocol analyzer
makers, as well as wireless (news - web
sites) security makers including AirDefense,
are also rolling out new security tools for
wireless networks. The premise of these
tools is simple enough: Wireless networks
nullify physical access controls and create
a hacking exposure.

Although I usually advise IT managers to
avoid spending money on wireless
monitoring tools—because nearly every
network problem can be solved using
traditional, and usually significantly less
expensive, wire-line tools—I have to say I'm
taken with the latest crop of
security-oriented wireless products I've seen
at eWEEK Labs. For example, Trapeze
Networks' WLAN Mobility System can
periodically put access points into
listen-only mode to ferret out rogue access
points. Aruba Wireless Networks' Aruba
5000 switch and Aruba 52 Access Points

can also discover unauthorized nodes. (See reviews of these products at
www.eWEEK.com/labslinks.) IT managers should pay close attention to these products
because they listen for hackers and raise an alarm when hackers try to access a
network.
AirXone takes wireless security to a new level by offering intrusion prevention,
using access controls on the physical network to stop intruders. Look for eWEEK
Labs' review of the stand-alone product in the next several months.

New products that adapt tried-and-true network security measures (intrusion
detection, user authentication and access control) to wireless security problems
make it reasonable to implement wireless networks in organizations that have
feared doing so.
Of course, designing and building a secure wireless infrastructure from the ground
up is better than adding it later. However, many of the security tools coming on
the market offer a great deal of advice on implementing security for wireless
networks that are already deployed.  For example, AirDefense's AirDefense software
uses sensors to communicate what is happening in the air back to an appliance that
processes the information.

Because the sensors are added to the network much like 802.11 access points, they
are simple to install, and they maintain a close watch on wireless activity. The
chief advantage of this approach to securing wireless networks is that the sensors
don't need to know about legitimate access points. They just passively listen for
traffic in the air and report what they find. IT managers then have to figure out
which access points are legit and which should be taken down. Because the sensors
are installed throughout the enterprise (news - web sites), they maintain a
constant vigil.

This approach has drawbacks, however. Unlike handheld wireless detectors, such as
those provided by most of the big names in the protocol analyzer market, including
Network Associates, once the sensors are installed, it should be assumed that
sooner or later they will need to be upgraded. The cost of maintaining the
permanently installed sensors that are the backbone of the monitoring systems
we've seen could become a serious drawback.

In our experience at eWEEK Labs, it has usually been enough to walk around with a
wireless sniffer looking for rogue access points. The handheld, or more often
laptop-based, sniffers are simple to upgrade and easier to maintain, although they
are labor-intensive in that someone has to walk around a building to detect and
capture wireless data.
At the end of the day, you'll need to balance several factors: the value of having
wireless data access, the value of the data sent over the air and users'
requirements for privacy. For many businesses, the productivity gains and
convenience of wireless network access will outweigh the risks. This is especially
true if wireless access is limited to Internet applications such as browsing and
Web-based e-mail.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1738&ncid=1738&e=5&u=/zd/20030916/tc_zd/103084

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