Wireless Network
Wireless Network
A wireless LAN or WLAN is a wireless local area network that uses radio waves as its carrier: the last link with the users is wireless, to give a network connection to all users in the surrounding area. Areas may range from a single room to an entire campus. The backbone network usually uses cables, with one or more wireless access points connecting the wireless users to the wired network.
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Wireless Network Related Products
AirMagnet's Handheld Analyzer is a convenient, inexpensive way to solve serious problems in the enterprise wireless LAN. The Handheld Analyzer helps IT staff make sense of end-user complaints to quickly resolve performance problems, while automatically detecting hundreds of security threats and other network vulnerabilities.
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3e525A-3 Wireless Access Point Maximum security and flexibility with outdoor or indoor use. The 3e525A-3 Wireless Access Point is packaged in a rugged NEMA 4/IP 67 weatherproof enclosure and conforms to 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g wireless standards.
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FIPS 140-2 Secure Wireless Data Terminal. 3e-523 Wireless Data Point enables economical installation of sensor systems. With security enhanced IEEE 802.11 wireless technology, costly installation cabling is eliminated.
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FireWall-1 GX delivers Check Point's market-leading security to GPRS—(2.5G) and UMTS— (3G) enabled wireless networks. FireWall-1 GX is the first product to protect these wireless infrastructures from the threats of untrusted networks. With FireWall-1 GX, wireless network operators can offer seamless roaming to their data customers without exposing their network to potential security threats.
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Used in combination with RSA SecurID authenticators, the RSA SecurID Appliance is designed to validate the identities of users by requiring the user to present a PIN (something they know) along with their token code (something they have) before granting access to valuable network resources.
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Wireless Network Related Industry News
WLANs are inevitable, security measures a must Now, this isn't anything new. Effective policy construction is the first step in securing any new technology, and wireless local area networks are no exception.
To many security professionals, wireless is one word they don't want to hear. Securing wireless access points can difficult, and some pros find it easier to deny them until technology has improved.
Wireless, however, is a reality. Everyone from CEOs to lower-level professionals love......
[more] Commuters hack wireless networks Wireless hacking is most likely to occur during the rush hour, a survey has found. Jumping on to the increasing number of wireless networks around cities such as London has become something of a hobby for hackers and those seeking to gain free access to the internet.
The security arm of consultancy firm KPMG set out to discover just how big a menace so-called war driving is to London businesses.
It set up three wireless "honeypots" around the City of Lond......
[more] What's the difference between a viral attack and a scan? Infosec exhibitors were yesterday urged to check their systems for a virus after the performance of the security conference's network took a severe hit.
Exhibitors received an advisory from eForce, which is responsible for the networking and security of Olympia, Infosec's venue, that warned of an attack linked to a Trojan called Deloader.
According to exhibitor MIS Corporate Defence Solutions, the virus had "some effect on the per......
[more] Networking Industry Awards 2003 GSS are named finalists for the ‘Wireless Networking Product of the Year’. AirMagnet and Vernier Networks are both finalists within this category.
AirMagnet allows network/security managers real-time management of their entire WLAN environment, at any time from any location, running on a handheld Compaq iPaq/Windows CE device or Laptop. AirMagnet Distributed Wireless Network Management System is the industry’s most advanced network management system. Designed......
[more] Wi-Fi gets on the right track What sort of investment in public transport would make you swap from plane to long haul trains or from car to bus or commuter train? asks Rob Bamforth of Bloor Research. How about fast mobile data access using Wi-Fi? Mobile users at mobile hotspots. It might be a challenge delivering high bandwidth networking to a moving target - both technical and financial - but at least there's a sitting audience.
For the would-be 'railwarrior', the solution could be at hand,......
[more] City sees the benefits of wireless networks Survey shows more businesses are convinced but security is still lax The third annual Wireless Security Survey of London has highlighted a significant increase in the use of wireless networks by businesses.
In the two years since the survey was first undertaken, the number of wireless networks used in the City has increased from 124 in 2001, to 328 in 2002 and 1078 in 2003.
The benefits of the technology appear to have convinced companies, and th......
[more] Microsoft clips Wi-Fi's wings Three minutes to connect? Just keep waiting says Redmond Microsoft has responded to complaints that Windows XP sometimes has problems connecting to Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, the response is: "Tough. Wait it out."
"This behavior is expected," says a terse article in Microsoft's Knowledge Base. "You must wait up to three minutes for the network configuration to complete."
There's no fix, no patch, no workaround. "The wireless network card driver may not respond......
[more] AirMagnet Unveils New Distributed WLAN Security and Performance Solution 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 d......
[more] Wireless internet stumbles ahead The spread of wi-fi is being hampered by increasing complex and incompatible products, an industry body promoting the technology has said. The Wi-Fi Alliance said 22% of new wireless devices it tested did not work properly on the first attempt.
The group lobbies for a common standard to make it as easy as possible for people to surf the web wirelessly.
A recent Consumers' Association survey in the UK found that many people were put off by the complexity o......
[more] U.K. Plans Roadside Wireless Network The U.K. government is planning to upgrade its roadside telematics system with a wireless network designed to blanket the country with low-cost wireless Internet access.
At this week's Wireless LAN Event here, a small Exeter-based company called Last Mile Communications (a trading name of five-year-old TIVIS Ltd.) launched the patented technology the government is eyeing for its massive roadside infrastructure upgrade. Under Last Mile's scheme, contractor......
[more] Users unaware of wireless security needs Resellers need to provide education Despite a huge increase in wireless uptake, users still have poor awareness of their security, an area in which resellers should be playing a bigger educational role, according to security consultancy Orthus.
The firm's second annual survey of 450 European chief executives, IT directors and security specialists found that more than two-thirds of companies questioned are deploying wireless networks, but only 28 per cent......
[more] Leading Canadian communications provider chooses AirMagnet AirMagnet, the leader in wireless LAN (WLAN) security and performance solutions, today announced that Allstream, Canada's largest alternative communication solutions provider, has selected AirMagnet Distributed 4.0 to support its recently launched Managed Local Area Network (LAN) service, which offers enterprise customers a stable, flexible and secure hosted wireless LAN solution. Wireless Friendly, a leading Canadian wireless integrato......
[more] Security group warns of flaw in wireless protocol The Australian Computer Emergency Response Team issued an advisory Thursday warning companies that their wireless networks could be disrupted by an attacker with a handheld device. A vulnerability in the most common wireless networking protocol, the 802.11 standard established by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), allows a device to essentially jam other devices on a network using a low-power signal.
"Previously, at......
[more] Unauthorized Wireless Users Strain Corporate Networks IT managers say rogue installations pose security risks, complicate support End users are driving much of the mobile and wireless innovation inside companies, which can cause security, support and management problems -- especially when devices and applications not sanctioned by IT departments find their way onto networks.
That was one of the messages from IT managers who attended Computerworld's second annual Mobile & Wireless World confe......
[more] Wireless Hacker Pleads Guilty Man admits using store's wireless network to steal credit card info. A Michigan man pleaded guilty last week to four counts of wire fraud and unauthorized access to a computer after he and two accomplices used a vulnerable wireless network at a Lowe's Companies store in Michigan to attempt to steal credit card numbers from the company's main computer systems in North Carolina and other Lowe's stores in the U.S.
Brian Salcedo could face up to 18 years in prison f......
[more] The Wi-Fi explosion: a virus writer's dream With the consumer Wi-Fi explosion, launching a virus into the wild has never been easier and more anonymous than it is today. Like a sneeze in a crowded subway, it's hard to find the human source of the latest viral infection. On the Internet it's not much different. The people who write these nasty little programs and release them into the wild almost never get caught. Why? The answer is easy, but it's also a sort of technical nemesis: there's simply......
[more] Security concerns still plague wireless take-up Wireless has many benefits, provided companies minimise the risks and rein in ad hoc networks 'Be afraid, be very afraid' is the attitude of many companies when faced with the prospect of using a wireless network.
Because wireless is about broadcasting data that often goes beyond company perimeters, businesses worry that it won't be secure enough. And who can blame them, with a regular stream of surveys highlighting gaping security holes?
Secur......
[more] Massive free Wi-Fi hot spot lands on Paris Mobile workers in the main business area of Paris will soon be able to get free high-speed Internet connectivity on the move A wireless network is being deployed in the business district of Paris that will give high-speed Internet access to some 150,000 workers. The network, which is being deployed by Wi-Fi operator SFR using Alcatel kit, will incorporate 30 separate 802.11b hot spots into a single cloud of coverage.
It runs from the Bridge of Neuilly......
[more] AirMagnet Tends CBK's Wireless Networks Nine months ago, Todd Little sat in a cafe with his laptop and was amazed by the number of wireless networks he could see. This got the network administrator at CBK Ltd. thinking: "What could people see coming from behind CBK's walls?"
Although Little was sure his wireless networks at CBK, a wholesaler of home accents in Union City, Tenn., were secure, he decided to play it safe. He deployed AirMagnet Inc.'s Distributed Starter Kit, a wireless security o......
[more] Hackers Get Jail Time After Using Wi-Fi For Break-Ins Federal prosecutors in Charlotte, N.C. said Thursday that three men had pleaded guilty in a case that is likely the first criminal conviction of "wardriving," the hacker tactic of cruising for unsecured wireless networks.
The three Michigan men all filed guilty pleas for charges that they penetrated the computer network of home improvement retailer Lowe's through an unprotected Wi-Fi access point in a parking lot of a Lowe's in suburban De......
[more] Wi-fi nets get security makeover The security systems built into wireless networks have had an overhaul. The update uses stronger encryption and does a better job of letting only authorised users join wireless nets.
The improvements have been made to re-assure businesses that wi-fi networks can be made safe enough to be really useful and widely deployed.
However, with a lot of older, insecure wireless technology already installed, it could be a while before all networks are upgraded and mad......
[more] First 'warspamming' case reaches court A landmark case in America could establish that spammers really do take advantage of insecure wireless networks A US citizen is thought to have become the first person to be accused of hacking a wireless network in order to send spam.
Nicholas Tombros, 37, is charged under the US CAN-SPAM act, which aims to clamp down on unsolicited junk mail. Prosecutors allege that Tombros used a laptop to sniff out insecure residential wireless access points in a Los An......
[more] Wireless security risk highlighted in student project New Zealand wireless network users might be exposing themselves to an invasion. With the growing use of wireless networking technology comes an increasing opportunity for security breaches if people don’t put precautionary measures in place.
An informal survey of homes and businesses in Palmerston North that identified 176 wireless networks found only about a quarter had security measures in place. “I was really surprised,” says fourth-yea......
[more] Gaps remain in Wi-Fi security Sadly the new WPA2 security spec won't make your wireless LAN invulnerable Here's some good news - the Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) spec is finally with us, and the Wi-Fi Alliance has begun certifying compliant products. "Hurrah," I hear you shout, "finally we can have secure wireless networks."
Now the bad news; starting with the fact that WPA2 is not so much a standard as an interoperability stamp for wireless encryption and authentication technologies conform......
[more] Web surfing pandas go wireless Wireless Lan helps in care and preservation of endangered giant pandas Tech-savvy giant pandas can now pick up their email or browse the web to find a perfect panda partner thanks to the deployment of a campus-wide broadband and wireless network in China's Wolong Nature Reserve.
Wolong Nature Reserve is one of the last protected homes for the world's giant pandas. Located in the lush mountains of the Sichuan Province in south west China, the reserve cares for near......
[more] Business frets over wireless security There is no question that a number of the new mobile solutions that are being developed could help many business processes function more efficiently. The results of a recent survey, carried out at an executive briefing held by IT consulting services and solutions provider C&C Technology, sheds some light onto the perceived advantages of wireless working and some major concerns regarding these solutions.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, wireless network security......
[more] Corporations Get Ready for Wi-Fi Universities and health care organizations have led the way in Wi-Fi installations -- and done the bleeding that takes place on the cutting edge. Now, U.S. corporations are learning from these leaders and evaluating how wireless LANs (WLANs) can benefit their companies.
Corporate IT executives came to the Angelbeat Mobility, Security, VoIP Executive Briefing on Monday to hear from vendors of wireless monitoring and security applications hoping to get their busi......
[more] London gets 'largest ever' indoor Wi-Fi site The British Library claims to have built the largest indoor wireless LAN in the capital The British Library finally launched its wireless network on Tuesday, which it claims is the largest enclosed Wi-Fi hot spot in the UK capital.
The network covers eleven reading rooms, the Library auditorium, a cafe and restaurant, and also an outdoor Piazza. It will be available to around 3,000 visitors per day.
Broadcom has built a huge Wi-Fi zone outdoors in......
[more] Long prison term for Lowe's wi-fi hacker A 21-year-old Michigan man was sentenced to nine years in federal prison Wednesday in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina for his role in a failed scheme to steal credit card numbers from the Lowe's chain of home improvement stores by taking advantage of an unsecured wi-fi network at a store in suburban Detroit.
Brian Salcedo faced a possible sentence of 12 to 15 years under federal sentencing guidelines, but at the government's urging federal j......
[more] Airwave hackers spark computer alert Almost two-thirds of wireless computers installed in offices, homes and public buildings have no basic security safeguards and can be snooped on by amateur hackers, according to a Sunday Times investigation.
The lack of protection means that e-mails and sensitive computer files can be accessed by hackers using little more than a laptop and an antenna.
The revelation has sparked concern among the police and will come as a shock to tens of thousands of......
[more] Access all areas Doubts about security have long discouraged many firms from deploying mobile computing. But wireless technology has moved on When many companies find it hard enough to control the IT use of office-based employees, how do you convince them that giving staff remote access is a good idea?
This is the dilemma that faces all notebook, wireless networking and remote-management software manufacturers and resellers. There are a lot of variables to consider. The process of providing a m......
[more] Many Wireless Security Breaches Reported At Security Conference There were 32 "Evil Twin" attacks and many other types of security breaches aimed at Wi-Fi users of the recently-concluded RSA security conference, wireless security vendor AirDefense claimed Thursday.
In an Evil Twin attack, hackers set up bogus access points and try to get nearby wireless users to log on either. Then, they can steal information that the user transmits The use of this method of attack marks a significant shift......
[more] AirMagnet to complete a comprehensive Wireless solution for the US Government AirMagnet, Inc., announced today its participation in iGov's one-of-a-kind, turnkey, secure wireless networking solution that ensures interoperability among multiple wireless technologies and the wired network. iGov's new comprehensive solution, iSolutions for Wireless, combines sales, marketing, and engineering resources from 10 partners, including AirMagnet, that iGov has identified as industry leaders within the Fe......
[more] Isle of Wight Council Secures Wireless Network With AirMagnet AirMagnet Mobile suite allows flexible monitoring and maintenance of WLAN performance The Isle of Wight Council has announced it is using AirMagnet wireless security and performance tools to routinely and accurately monitor its wireless network (WLAN) for fault finding and performance issues. The AirMagnet Mobile suite, consisting of AirMagnet Laptop Analyzer and AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer, provides the Council with an effective way......
[more] London gets a mile of free Wi-Fi Good news for wireless users in Islington - they can now get free wireless Internet access. But will commercial hot spot operators be pleased? Mobile workers in London will be able to get free wireless access across a mile-long swathe of the capital, via a Wi-Fi network financed by Islington Council.
Dubbed the 'Technology Mile', it is thought to be the largest free public-access wireless network built in the UK so far. Islington Council took the decision to fu......
[more] AirMagnet Advances World's Best-Selling Wi-Fi Tools AirMagnet Laptop Analyzer 5.0 Builds on Years of Success; Offers Integrated Reporting for Easy SOX and HIPAA Compliance, New Security and Performance Alarms and Robust Vo-Fi Quality Management AirMagnet, Inc., the leader in wireless LAN (WLAN) security and performance solutions, today introduced the fifth generation of its AirMagnet Laptop Analyzer and related mobile solutions, which are relied upon by thousands of wireless network professional......
[more] When Is a Baked-Bean Can a Wi-Fi Network Antenna? You can make high technology when you're competing in Intel's International Science and Engineering Fair Is using an empty baked-bean can to grab a Wi-Fi signal from a mile away high technology? The answer is yes if you're an entrant in Intel's International Science and Engineering Fair being held this week in Phoenix.
Steven Buss, an 18-year-old Wi-Fi buff from Palm City, Florida, built three different types of antennas to see which provided th......
[more] Feds botch wireless security Federal agencies in the US are leaving their wireless networks open to attack by not implementing key security measures, according to a report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Tuesday.
Wireless networks – also known as Wi-Fi or Wireless Local Area Networks or WLANs – can fall victim to malicious hacking techniques, from eavesdropping on company or agency secrets to computer network disruption and the launching of denial of service attacks.
S......
[more] Wireless hijacking under scrutiny A recent court case, which saw a West London man fined £500 and sentenced to 12 months' conditional discharge for hijacking a wireless broadband connection, has repercussions for almost every user of wi-fi networks. It is believed to be the first case of its kind in the UK, but with an estimated one million wi-fi users around the country, it is unlikely to be the last.
"There are a lot of implications and this could open the floodgates to many more such cases,......
[more] Wireless Noise Hampers DefCon A team of wireless security and performance specialists from AirMagnet today
reported their findings after spending the weekend monitoring wireless network
traffic at DefCon, the self-described "convention for underground hackers." A
representative from the AirMagnet group noted with some surprise that RF
interference from non-Wi-Fi devices seemed to pose the greatest threat to the
conference's wireless networks.
"The wireless attacks we saw--jamming,
de-au......
[more] Wi-Fi faces struggle for mainstream acceptance Consumer electronics vendors are facing the challenge of educating consumers about Wi-Fi wireless networking and to overcome the perception that Wi-Fi is simply a data networking technology, industry experts warned today.
The results of a newly published In-Stat US consumer survey shows that most planned Wi-Fi deployments are designed to support traditional PC-based data networking applications, rather than as a means to delivering consumer entert......
[more] Wireless hacker was bank insider A 26-year-old man has been arrested in Finland after he allegedly hacked into an online bank account and stole €200,000 ($244,000) from his company. The unnamed man is believed to be the head of data security at the Helsinki branch of financial services company GE Money. According to Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, the man is one of four men arrested in connection with the theft, which took place in June.
It is alleged that he copied the bank's software an......
[more] AirMagnet Ruggedized Sensors Extend Wireless Security Perimeter Beyond Building Walls AirMagnet, the leader in wireless LAN (WLAN) security and performance solutions, today introduced a new line of ruggedized sensors designed for outdoor and hazardous use -- allowing enterprises to extend a wireless security "perimeter" well beyond building walls. These waterproof, hardened SmartEdge sensors can scan for suspicious wireless activity both indoors and outdoors and are ideal for customers needing......
[more] Your SSID Isn’t Hidden Forever A common security practice among wireless network administrators is to disable Service Set Identifier (SSID) broadcasting on wireless access points or routers. The reason is that disabling SSID broadcasting is supposed to hide and protect their wireless network. Even if an individual knows there is a wireless network at a certain location, this person must know the SSID to establish a connection with the network.
Therefore, hiding the SSID by disabling SSID broa......
[more] Is Your Laptop Connecting to a Malicious Wi-Fi Network? Microsoft downplays Windows Wi-Fi 'anomaly' reported this week. Exploiting a design flaw in Windows XP and Windows 2003 systems with built-in wireless capabilities, hackers could lure Wi-Fi users into connecting to malicious wireless networks, according to Microsoft, which recently completed an investigation of the issue.
Mark Loveless, a senior researcher at Vernier Networks in Mountain View, California, raised questions about the flaw la......
[more] AirMagnet Achieves Three Industry "Firsts" in Wireless Security and Performance Monitoring AirMagnet Inc., the leader in wireless LAN (WLAN) security and performance solutions, announced version 7.0 of its flagship Enterprise product, which earlier this month was named one of Information Security's Products of the Year, and two weeks ago was named Best Wireless Security Solution and Best Overall Network Security Solution of 2005 by SC Magazine. The new AirMagnet Enterprise is the world's first......
[more] AirMagnet upgrades will improve WLAN security AirMagnet has released an upgraded version of its enterprise platform that offers new security features, as well as performance monitoring and event analysis capabilities.The company said that its Enterprise 7.0 software supported new wireless sensors that could monitor and analyse the radio frequency (RF) spectrum for interference by non-Wi-Fi devices such as cordless phones and Bluetooth devices."Traditional sensors capture wireless packets o......
[more] University of Wales Protects and Accelerates New Campus Wireless Network With Blue Coat Appliance Blue Coat Systems, the leader in secure content and application delivery, today announced that its ProxySG appliance with Blue Coat WebFilter has been chosen by a member institute of the University of Wales for its new on-campus wireless network. The Blue Coat appliance enforces appropriate Internet usage, combats malware and speeds student access to educational resources from their halls of reside......
[more] 802.11w fills wireless security holes IEEE 802.11i, the standard behind Wi-Fi Protected Access and WPA 2, patched the holes in the original Wired Equivalent Privacy specification by introducing new cryptographic algorithms to protect data traveling across a wireless network. Now, the 802.11w task group is looking at extending the protection beyond data to management frames, which perform the core operations of a network. Traditionally, management frames did not contain sensitive information and......
[more] AirMagnet Rolls Out Voice-Over-Wi-Fi Analysis Tool The network analysis tool helps network managers detect voice problems over wireless networks. AirMagnet today announced the AirMagnet VoFi Analyzer, a network analysis tool that helps network managers detect voice problems over wireless networks. The VoFi Analyzer detects problems in real time, includes alarms and real-time statistical analysis, and uncovers roots causes. Its includes quality of service (QoS) features for seamless roaming, jitt......
[more] New AirMagnet Solution Selected as Best of Interop 2006 Finalist AirMagnet Inc., the leader in wireless network assurance, announced the AirMagnet Vo-Fi Analyzer is a finalist in the Best of Interop Awards in the VoIP and Collaboration category. The AirMagnet Vo-Fi Analyzer, the pioneering voice-over-wireless-LAN (VoWLAN) analysis tool that lets network managers identify voice problems and pinpoint their root causes, debuted at this week's Interop tradeshow. The AirMagnet Vo-Fi Analyzer proacti......
[more] UK sales of Wi-Fi equipment soar Sales of Wi-Fi equipment have rocketed over the past year as consumers flock to adopt the technology, according to a recent report.Research from analyst firm GfK revealed that sales of wireless routers increased 108 per cent in the first quarter of 2006 compared to the same period in 2005.Some 380,000 units were sold over the three-month period, worth a total of £24m. Similarly, sales of wireless cards increased by 87 per cent year on year to 525,000 units......
[more] Wi-fi: Coming soon on board U.S. airplanes Air travelers starved for in-flight Internet access may soon find solace, thanks to a Colorado company that wants to offer Wi-fi service aloft. AirCell said Monday that it plans to use a newly acquired radio spectrum license to offer "affordable" broadband service aboard commercial airplanes. Formed in 1991, the company already sells satellite-based voice and data services to the general aviation sector, primarily the corporate jet set. In th......
[more] Wi-Fi phones ring changes in telephony sector The global Wi-Fi phone market is poised to enjoy stellar growth this year as enterprises and consumers ramp up voice over wireless Lan deployments.Data published today by Infonetics Research suggests that the Wi-Fi telephony sector jumped 116 per cent between 2004 and 2005 to $125.5m, and is projected to more than double in 2006. Infonetics predicted that Wi-Fi phone revenue will more or less double, and even nearly triple, every year through 2009,......
[more] AirMagnet Achieves Key Milestone With 5,000th Customer AirMagnet Inc., the award-winning leader in wireless network assurance, announced that its continued traction in wireless security, performance monitoring and compliance reporting has led the company to recently surpass the 5,000 customer mark, a wealth of customers nearly 10 times that of its next closest competitor. AirMagnet's continued innovation in creating products designed to survey, secure and monitor such cutting-edge technologies......
[more] WiFi to cover London’s Square Mile London's Square Mile financial district will have near total WiFi coverage by the end of this year.The wireless network will be installed in street furniture such as lampposts and street signs. The City of London Corporation, which commissioned the network, says it will be the first of its kind in the world with full roaming capability.Traditional wireless links comprise standalone hotspots, but the City's new platform will be a mesh network that enables conti......
[more] AirMagnet Sets Standard for Mobile Workforce Security AirMagnet Inc., the award-winning leader in wireless network assurance, has set a new standard for secure Wi-Fi with its introduction of AirMagnet StreetWISE, a family of professional endpoint security software products developed specifically for the enterprise. Unlike existing wireless endpoint products -- which savvy workers render useless by disabling or removing them, connecting to unsecured networks and exposing confidential corporate d......
[more] Wi-Fi guidance becomes law in California California legislators have passed a law which will force makers of wireless internet equipment to include guidance on keeping data secure on wireless connections. The law now awaits signature by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.From 1 October 2007, manufacturers must place warning labels on all equipment capable of receiving Wi-Fi signals, according to the new state law. These can take the form of box stickers, special notification in setup software, noti......
[more] AirMagnet Redefines the Wireless Site Survey AirMagnet Inc., the leader in wireless network assurance, released AirMagnet Planner, the most significant enhancement ever to the AirMagnet Survey product line. AirMagnet Planner is a RF planning and wireless LAN design solution that offers unrivaled cost advantages and ease of use. This new solution is available as a stand-alone product or as a fully integrated option for the newly released AirMagnet Survey 4.0. The AirMagnet Planner enables enterp......
[more] Analysing voice on the wireless network AirMagnet, a provider of solutions in the wireless network assurance space, has recently announced the availability of the AirMagnet VoFi Analyzer. The software provides automatic analysis of encrypted voice being carried over a WiFi network. AT&T is one of the first customers to test the solution, with the company's networking engineering and performance analysis lab using the VoFi Analyzer to monitor Voice-over-IP (VoIP) traffic on the wireless netw......
[more] Your next wireless security problem Just when you think you've got the network locked down ... Recently, I've had the dry task of telling an increasing number of executives that their organizations' wireless networks are relatively well protected -- that during an assessment, it wasn't possible to attach to, or make any serious dent in the availability of, the network without exceeding the bounds of a reasonable threat model. Does this mean all's well in the wireless world? Not at all. We're mer......
[more] AirMagnet to Share Industry Leading Strategies for Successfully Deploying VoWLAN at Mobile Business Expo AirMagnet, the award-winning leader in wireless network assurance, will discuss the challenges impacting enterprise voice-over-WLAN (VoWLAN) deployments and its proactive resolutions at Mobile Business Expo in a panel entitled "Voice Over WLAN: The Next Network Infrastructure Challenge," taking place from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Friday, November 3, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.......
[more] One in 10 surfers fall prey to cyber-criminals Security organisations urge caution as Christmas approaches One in 10 online adults could become a victim of cyber-fraud this holiday season, according to a joint warning issued today by the National Consumers League (NCL) and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA).According to the latest NCSA/Symantec Online Fraud Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, about six in 10 US web users shop online and one in 10 say they have been a victim of......
[more] Apple closes another Wi-Fi hole Apple late on Thursday released a security update to plug a publicly known security hole in its AirPort product. The update fixes a vulnerability that affects both the server and client versions of Mac OS X, Apple said in its alert. The problem was disclosed in November as part of the Month of Kernel Bugs campaign. An attacker could exploit the flaw over a wireless network by sending malicious data to a vulnerable Mac, Apple said. "An attacker in local proxim......
[more] AirMagnet Secures U.S. Patent for Detecting Hidden WLAN Users AirMagnet Inc. has been issued U.S. Patent No. 7,130,289 for creating a method to expose hidden nodes in a wireless LAN (WLAN) environment. CTO Chia-Chee Kuan, as well as chief architect Miles Wu, and president and CEO Dean Au, developed the patented technology as a core component of wireless analysis to proactively identify and explain security and performance threats."The awarding of this patent is significant for AirMagnet be......
[more] AirMagnet to offer analyzer for Cisco APs On Tuesday, AirMagnet launched Enterprise Analyzer for Cisco, a troubleshooting and analysis software tool for Cisco's line of switch or controller-based, lightweight APs. The software works with Cisco lightweight APs currently available and will collect and analyze a 130 different wireless network conditions, including data traffic congestion, signal noise, and interference. Using the Enterprise Analyzer interface, a network manager will be......
[more] Wireless users 'do more online' People who use wireless internet "show deeper engagement with cyberspace," according to an American study. While 54% of internet users check e-mail "on the typical day," 72% of wireless users check daily. Just under half of wireless users get news online every day, compared to 31% of internet users at large. The Pew Internet and American Life Project survey asked 798 US internet users about their wireless habits and sampled almost 2,300 people overall.......
[more] Your Wi-Fi can tell people a lot about you Simply booting up a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop can tell people sniffing wireless network traffic a lot about your computer--and about you Soon after a computer powers up, it starts looking for wireless networks and network services. Even if the wireless hardware is then shut-off, a snoop may already have caught interesting data. Much more information can be plucked out of the air if the computer is connected to an access point, in particular an access point w......
[more] Thank you Superhacker, you saved my computer Many people leave their Wi-Fi link unsecured, leaving them open to fraud. But a new breed of ‘ethical hackers’ is helping, says Joseph Dunn Peter Booth was minding his own business last Sunday afternoon at home in Kippax, near Leeds, when the knock on the door came. On his porch was Andrew Mason, 6ft 4in and dressed in a black T-shirt. He was holding a laptop and a strange antenna that resembled a Pringle crisps tin on a stick. "Your computer has......
[more] Quarter of UK firms have no wireless security policy Survey finds that 26 per cent of organisations fail to govern security of wireless access for staff. A quarter of UK companies fail to enforce a security policy governing the use of wireless networks, according to new research.The study of 320 companies, carried out by Infosecurity Europe, found that 26 per cent of organisations do not enforce a wireless security policy. Additional interviews with 20 chief security officers in large UK enterpr......
[more] Wi-Fi hack caused TK Maxx security breach Hackers who stole 45 million customer records from the parent company of TK Maxx did so by breaking into the retail company's wireless LAN , it emerged on Monday. TK Maxx's parent company, TJX, had secured its wireless network using Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) - one of the weakest forms of security for wireless LANs. Hackers broke in and stole the records - which included millions of credit card numbers - in the second half of 2005 and throughout 2006......
[more] AirMagnet’s VoFi Analyzer Named Finalist for Best of Interop Awards AirMagnet Inc., the award-winning leader in wireless network assurance solutions, today announced that AirMagnet VoFi Analyzer, the most comprehensive solution for ensuring quality and reliability associated with Voice-over-WLAN deployments, was named a finalist for the Best of Interop Awards in the category of VoIP and Collaboration. The staff of CMP Technology's Network Computing magazine selected AirMagnet from a field of ne......
[more] FBI issues wireless security warning The FBI has issued a warning telling wireless network users to ‘make sure you've got the best possible security measures in place. And don't delay.' The FBI says that it has ‘recently learned that the basic protection against intruders - Wireless Encryption Protocol, or WEP - is increasingly vulnerable to accomplished hackers.' This information came from one of the members of the FBI's longstanding InfraGard program, which brings together public......
[more] Wireless security: Balancing act Organisations need to weigh the convenience of wireless networking against the risks to the integrity of their IT systems. Steve Gold reports.A quick glance around any high-street IT store will reveal that wireless networking - commonly referred to as WiFi - has taken off in a big way. It's now possible to buy a data-accelerated 802.11g WiFi-enabled broadband router for around £50.Suddenly it's possible for an employee of even smaller firms to go out and b......
[more] AirMagnet Enterprise Receives SC Magazine's 5-Star and 'Recommended' Awards AirMagnet Inc., the award-winning leader in wireless network assurance solutions, today announced that SC Magazine has given AirMagnet Enterprise 7.5 its "Recommended Award" in a comparative group test of wireless security management products (Group Test: Wireless Security, May 2007, SC Magazine). AirMagnet Enterprise received a five star rating and a perfect score in categories including features, performance......
[more] Wireless security 2007 Unraveling the confusion about wireless standards is no mean feat. Justin Peltier takes a look at the latest crop of products in the field of wireless security management.Wireless networks are not about to go away any time soon. The convenience of losing the copper tether and gaining the ability to roam from one end of a campus to another without re-authenticating is just too practical. In the earlier days of wireless networks, the security controls were riddled with flaw......
[more] AirMagnet VoFi Analyzer Wins Best of Interop Award AirMagnet Inc., the award-winning leader in wireless network assurance solutions, today announced that AirMagnet VoFi Analyzer, the most comprehensive solution for ensuring quality and reliability associated with Voice-over-WLAN deployments, won the Best of Interop Award in the category of VoIP and Collaboration. "The Best of Interop Awards are always an indicator of the most innovative and exciting offerings in these product categories, a......
[more] East 17 to big up the wi-fi massive London borough Waltham Forest is to pilot a public wireless network after joining forces with BT as part of the telco's Wireless Cities initiative.BT will pay for and construct the network over the coming months by fitting wireless transmitters to lampposts and other street furniture.The network will initially cover a square mile around Walthamstow town centre, with several three-month trials due to take place this autumn.The project will boost council servic......
[more] AirMagnet Allowed Patent for Ability to Detect Counterfeit Wi-Fi Access Points AirMagnet Inc., the award-winning leader in wireless network assurance solutions, today announced the company has received a notice of allowance for a U.S. Patent covering multiple methods of identifying "spoofed" or counterfeit devices in a wireless LAN. Developed by AirMagnet's CTO, Chia-Chee Kuan, as well as Chief Architect, Miles Wu, and President and CEO, Dean Au, the patent further strengthens the com......
[more] Is 802.11n ready for the enterprise? The latest draft of the 802.11n wireless LAN standard looks to be enterprise-ready, but many businesses are wary about buying pre-standard equipment It's faster and has far greater range than current wireless LAN technology. And it's stable. So is the most recent draft of the 802.11n wireless LAN standard ready for enterprise adoption? Such products are widely available for consumers even though final ratification isn't expected for more than a year. However......
[more] Pembrokeshire County Council Uses AirMagnet's WLAN Products to Manage Public Networks AirMagnet Inc., the leader in security, performance and compliance solutions for wireless LANs (WLAN) today announced that Pembrokeshire County Council (United Kingdom) is using AirMagnet's wireless network planning and analysis tools to plan and implement more than 30 public wireless networks in the region. Pembrokeshire already utilizes several AirMagnet products and the new agreement includes versions of Ai......
[more] Wireless Protocols Learning Guide Ensuring wireless security can still be a big hold-up to the actual deployment or the continued use of a wireless network in the enterprise. This section of the Wireless Protocols Learning Guide covers monitoring and security policies for a wireless network in addition to a discussion of available tools and configurations that enhance wireless security. WLAN technology deployments have increased, and federal regulations (such as HIPAA, Sarbanes Oxley and Gramm-L......
[more] AirMagnet Enterprise 8.0 Revolutionises Wireless IDS Intelligence fAirMagnet Inc., the leader in security, performance and compliance solutions for wireless LANs, announced a major new release of its award-winning AirMagnet Enterprise, the industry's premier solution for continuous wireless LAN security and management. Enterprise 8.0 is packed with new capabilities that allow customers to provide better protection for their wireless environments and to do so more efficiently. The system detects......
[more] The top 10 reasons Web sites get hacked Experts say the people who actually build Web applications aren't paying much attention to security; a non-profit group is trying to solve that Web security is at the top of customers' minds after many well-publicized personal data breaches, but the people who actually build Web applications aren't paying much attention to security, experts say. "They're totally ignoring it," says IT consultant Joel Snyder. "When you go to your Web site des......
[more] Hackers zero in on wireless hotspots YOU'VE got ten minutes until you need to leave for the airport, but you just have to send out that e-mail containing this month's sales figures. Dashing up the street in search of a taxi, you spot the magic words "wireless hotspot" in a café window. The figures are sensitive, but the café is almost empty. You sit down, facing your laptop screen away from the few others in the room and log on. Safe as houses. Or not? Richard Rushing, c......
[more] Creating value from wireless security Mike Hong, product marketing manager at Foundry Networks, explains how to get the best value from selling wireless security beyond 802.11i For resellers advising their customers on security for wireless networks, it is important to be aware of the threats that exist and what current technology can do to protect against them. In 2004 the IEEE standards association ratified IEEE 802.11i - a set of standards designed to provide the strongest possible encryption......
[more] Microsoft exec calls XP hack 'frightening' A Microsoft executive calls the ease with which two British e-crime specialists managed to hack into a Windows XP computer as both "enlightening and frightening." The demonstration took place Monday at an event sponsored by Get Safe Online--a joint initiative of the U.K. government and industry. At the event, which was aimed at heightening security awareness among small businesses, two members of the U.K. government intelligence group Serious Organized......
[more] Security Sweep Finds Retailer's Wi-Fi Networks At Risk Despite the well-publicized wireless woes of retailer TJX earlier this year, it seems many retailers have failed to move to protect themselves from the loss of customer data. AirDefense, the Alphretta, Georgia-based wireless intrusion prevention vendor, conducted a "war drive" survey recently of over 3,000 retailers in eight major cities--Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, London and Paris. In tho......
[more] Outage gives BlackBerry a black eye The second lengthy BlackBerry outage in less than a year has one consulting company advising clients not to rely solely on the popular smartphones for critical e-mail messages. Enterprises that really need e-mail responses in less than eight hours to run their businesses should have a backup for the BlackBerry, Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney said Tuesday, in the wake of a crash that lasted about three hours on Monday. They should also set up an independent syste......
[more] Wi-Fi security still too complicated, expert claims Although the 802.1x access protocol is a must for wireless network security, companies rarely use it and thus leave the door open for hackers, according to Robert Lamprecht, IT advisory supervisor at KPMG. The protocol lets users on either wireless or wired local networks set up a connection and prevents others from accessing the port they are trying to use if authentication fails."With 802.1x, unauthorized users can't get access to your......
[more] Beijing Prepares for 'High-tech Olympics' All over Beijing, Olympic countdown clocks tick off the seconds that China has awaited for seven years: the moments until Aug. 8, 2008, at 8:00 pm, when the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics begin. Perhaps the most important competition involving the Olympics will not take place during 16 days in August, but occurred in 2000 and 2001, when Beijing challenged Istanbul, Osaka, Toronto and Paris for the right to be the host city. Seven years and 2......
[more] How to Approach Access Control in the Social Networking Age “Here comes trouble,” say John Yun and Jay Kelley from Juniper Networks. Trouble in this case means social networking. Like instant messaging and e-mail before it, social networking can cause worries to companies that haven’t learned to adapt - and real trouble to companies that haven’t learned how to manage it. Enterprises are beginning to adopt social networking applications. They’re doing it for the sam......
[more] The wolves inside your door While most companies invest heavily to prevent their defences being breached, the real threats are employees and a failure to secure wireless networks. Ireland has been rocked by revelations of laptops belonging to banks and state agencies, which contained thousands of private citizens’ information, being stolen. In the UK, disks containing data on thousands of welfare recipients got lost by a courier. Last year, it emerged that Irish customers of retailer TK Maxx......
[more] Wireless LAN standard to cut power use Upcoming 802.11v standard scheudled for ratification in 2010 will improve power savings in wireless LANs The upcoming 802.11v standard will lower power consumption in wireless LANs, according to Matthew Gast, principal engineer at Trapeze Networks. Work on the standard began early in 2004 and ratification is currently scheduled for March 2010. Features include a Wireless Network Management Sleep Mode, improvement on base 802.11 power savings and longer pow......
[more] London consumers trounce corporates in wireless security London homeowners are more careful about defending their wireless networks against trespassers than their corporate counterparts. One in five business networks fail to use any form of wireless encryption while 90 per cent of Londoners use encryption of some kind at home. RSA's seventh annual wireless security survey also found the wireless penetration at home was far more advanced than in either New York City or Paris, with 55 per cent of......
[more] Once thought safe, WPA Wi-Fi encryption is cracked Security researchers say they've developed a way to partially crack the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) encryption standard used to protect data on many wireless networks. The attack, described as the first practical attack on WPA, will be discussed at the PacSec conference in Tokyo next week. There, researcher Erik Tews will show how he was able to crack WPA encryption and read data being sent from a router to a laptop computer. The attack could a......
[more] Indian Police on the hunt for poorly secured wireless connections At a conference in Mumbai last week, 80 policemen were taught about Wi-Fi connections and cybercrime and given the authority to order the owners of wireless routers to properly secure them with encryption and passwords. Police in Mumbai are reportedly on the hunt for poorly secured wireless connections, following an incident last year where hackers sent a warning about an imminent bombing from an innocent person’s Wi-Fi con......
[more] Enterprises still neglecting WLAN security Most European enterprises are neglecting their wireless LAN security, with an alarming number using only the most basic security protection for their wireless networks. So discovered a Motorola survey carried out by Vanson Bourne, which found that over half (65 percent) of large European companies use the same security measures for both wired and wireless networks, when in reality, they need different handling. The survey questioned 400 IT directors at......
[more] Research spies holes in Fortune 1000 wireless nets Overlooked design weaknesses in a widely used type of wireless network are seriously jeopardizing the network security of the retailers and manufacturers that rely on them, a security expert has determined. So-called FHSS, or frequency-hopping spread spectrum, networks are an early form of the 802.11 wireless data standard. Although transmission speeds, at about 2 Mbps, lag far behind more recent 802.11 technologies, they remain widely used by......
[more] Can't connect, won't connect. Poor wireless reception is symptomatic of a much bigger issue, says regular columnist Bill Thompson: The BBC's technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, must be hoping that his neighbours don't decide to have a larger family. He recently spent ages setting up a high-speed wireless network (wi-fi) at home, documenting the whole tortuous process on the BBC Technology blog, but all his hard work could apparently be ruined by a single baby listener. The intercoms th......
[more] DoS attacks threaten mobile networks Government denies plan, vows it is offering equal rights to patients Wireless network users are being threatend by a new generation of denial of service (DoS) attacks according to a leading researcher. Krishan Sabnani, vice president of networking research at Bell Labs, said that the latest wireless data network threats were the result of inherent weaknesses in Mobile IP, a protocol that uses tunnelling and complex network triangulation to allow mobile device......
[more] Pull the Plug on Unauthorized Wireless Devices What types of wireless devices are your employees plugging in to your company's network? If you don't know the answer to this question, your business is at risk. Today, like never before, employees are coming to work equipped with an array of network-compatible wireless gadgets — iPhones, laptop computers, media players, wireless access points and more. All of these devices, unfortunately, are capable of disrupting network operations and stea......
[more] PCI clarifies procedures to secure Wi-Fi The group charged with administering the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) has begun issuing guidance documents that merchants can use to help them better understand and adhere to payment security standards. On Thursday, the PCI Security Standards Council published its first installment: a 33-page paper for clarifying how retailers should secure their wireless internet environment. “The guidelines are not there to add any new c......
[more] iPhone SMS attack to be unleashed at Black Hat Apple has just over a day left to patch a bug in it's iPhone software that could let hackers take over the iPhone, just by sending out an SMS (Short Message Service) message. The bug was discovered by noted iPhone hacker Charlie Miller, who first talked about the issue at the SyScan conference in Singapore. At the time, he said he'd discovered a way to crash the iPhone via SMS, and that he thought that the crash could ultimately lead to working atta......
[more] Global Secure Systems Partners With Breach Security, Adds Web Application Solution to Consultancy Offering Breach Security, Inc., the leader in web application integrity, security and PCI compliance, today announced that Global Secure Systems (GSS) has joined the company's worldwide partner network. GSS secures corporate data by delivering full consultancy services, ranging from Data Protection Act issues to ISO 27001 and PCI compliance to penetration and application testing.As a new Breach Sec......
[more] How to Prevent a Heartland-Style Data Breach The United States Department of Justice announced today the arrest of Albert Gonzalez, a 28-year old Miami man, in the largest identity theft prosecution on record. Gonzalez is accused, along with two as-yet-unnamed Russian co-conspirators, of compromising more than 130 million credit and debit card accounts from a variety of targets including Heartland Payment Systems and 7-Eleven. While the Department of Justice should be commended for the successf......
[more] 7 Ways Security Pros DON'T Practice What They Preach IT security pros are often driven to drink -- literally -- over the daily battles of their job: bosses unwilling to accept the rationale for some new security investment, employees who regularly infect their computers by doing things that have nothing to do with their jobs, and vendors who don't understand the company's needs. But in a recent, unscientific and informal poll CSOonline conducted over such social networks as Twitter and LinkedIn,......
[more] How to DDOS a federal wiretap Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania say they've discovered a way to circumvent the networking technology used by law enforcement to tap phone lines in the U.S. The flaws they've found "represent a serious threat to the accuracy and completeness of wiretap records used for both criminal investigation and as evidence in trial," the researchers say in their paper, set to be presented Thursday at a computer security conference in Chicago.
Following up on earl......
[more] The 12 Cons of Christmas While the risk of being hacked, conned or having sensitive information stolen is possible all through the year, most security experts agree that the holiday season brings a spike in fraudulent activity, both online and off. CSO compiled a list of twelve dirty tricks to avoid this holiday season (or any time). Product come-ons
After a day of shopping, you log on to Twitter and 'tweet' about how hard it is to find a Zhu Zhu Pet, this season's hot toy, for your daughter. S......
[more] UK retail Wi-Fi security still patchy Wi-Fi security in UK retail environments is improving, but shops remain vulnerable to the sorts of attacks carried out as part of the infamous TJX credit card heist. The cybercrooks, who lifted more than 21 million credit card records, leapfrogged onto the retailer's credit card database after first breaking into the wireless network of a regional store, a subsequent investigation ahead of upcoming US trials revealed. The incident ought to have acted as a wa......
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