Siemens Enhances HiPath Security
The vendor’s new HiPath Wireless Manager Advanced software adds integrated intrusion detection and prevention features, location services and performance optimization tools to the Siemens WLAN portfolio, which is based on products the company picked up via its acquisition of Chantry Networks in January, 2005.
The new security features come via Siemens’ integration of wireless perimeter security wares from AirTight Networks, a Mountain View, Calif.-based start-up that is partly owned by Siemens Venture Capital, said Luc Roy, vice president of product planning at Siemens Communications, Boca Raton, Fla.
With an integrated solution, Siemens channel partners can provide a cleaner, more efficient wireless security solution vs. adding a security overlay, Roy said.
The new technology protects radio space and network packets, automatically detecting, classifying and blocking rogue access points, he said. “A lot of people think that as long as you’ve got [802].11i, your security is strong, which it is, but people don’t realize that your RF is not actually secure,” he said.
The software also includes location services that can be used to pinpoint rogue access points or to track assets. The services are accurate to within 10 feet, Roy said.
“In the past, [rogue access point detection] has been hit or miss. It’s almost like a bird-dog trying to sniff out its prey,” said Wes Goswick, director of business development at Gibson Technical Services (GTS), a solution provider in Canton, Ga. “Now you’re able to bring it down to a very narrow search area.”
Goswick said the new capabilities should help grow GTS’ Siemens WLAN sales, particularly to customers dealing with regulatory compliance issues around HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
Available now, HiPath Wireless Manager Advanced is priced at $7,500, including reporting. Access point licenses cost $338 each.