Wireless LAN security

Lynn Haber CNet

Published: 17 Apr 2002 13:39 BST

Third-party vendors that offer products for improving enterprise WLAN security and management include Bluesocket, ReefEdge, Vernier Networks, and Ecutel.

While each vendor puts its own twist on its product offerings, basically these new WLAN management products take over security and management functions for the entire WLAN versus individual access points, which is how standard WLAN products manage the network.

"These products address the pain points of WLAN deployment today, namely security and management, by adding a layer of features that are somewhat present in current WLAN products but are not robust enough," says Chris Kozup, senior research analyst at Meta Group. The missing pieces in current WLAN standards and solutions, says Kozup, are access control, authentication, confidentiality, mobility, and quality of service (bandwidth management).

How they work

New network management products, such as that from Vernier, have a central server that sits at the core of the WLAN and provides different levels of access control, sets up VPN tunnels, and helps with seamless roaming, for example. Bluesocket's solution is a gateway that sits between the WLAN access points and the wired LAN; it also provides access control, quality of service, and roaming capabilities.

"What's been missing from WLAN technology are network and security management tools similar to those that are available for the wired infrastructure," says David Solomon, senior director of OEM and strategic sales at Vernier, based in Mountain View, California. In particular, he points to product features that address airwave security, authentication, and user rights. The mission of Vernier, Blue Socket, ReefEdge and Ecutel is to turn existing WLAN equipment into a complete wireless solution, with one centralised view across the entire network. With centralised management, you don't have to individually manage multiple access points. These products also unfetter users from having a proprietary WLAN solution.