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Intel admits wireless security concerns

Will Knight ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 22 Jun 2000 11:00 BST

The head of Intel's Wireless Competency Centre admits that security is a serious concern in the company's future vision of wireless technology and mobile Internet.

Speaking at Intel's Wireless Competency Centre in Stockholm this week managing director Leif Persson acknowledged hugely complicated wireless environments are causing them serious anxiety.

"What is holding all this back from the mobile professional is clearly security," says Persson. "We're putting 50 percent of resources into understanding end to end security."

Intel is working on a number of wireless technologies at its Stockholm centre. It envisions a future where all sorts of devices are capable of talking to each other using Bluetooth. They will access broadband Internet content over forthcoming UMTS or 3G mobile networks standards.

Such a proliferation of devices and technologies translates into growing number of potential vulnerabilities, Perrson concedes. One potential headache for companies is that employees could be permanently connected to a firm's internal network on unsecured mobile devices. Persson adds that although Intel is working with a number of unnamed major security companies, the situation is far from certain.

"I wish I had the answer," he says. "The key thing is to get the industry to pull in one direction."

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