Enterprise Wireless LAN Security & WLAN Monitoring

Awards and Testimonials
Awards Customer Testimonials Media Quotes Analyst Insights

Awards

Video Testimonials

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Customer Testimonials

"Information privacy has always been a priority at Geisinger. As we introduce wireless technology to improve care, we will use AirDefense to ensure that this new technology does not reduce privacy. Rogue wireless devices and hackers are infiltrating many organizations; AirDefense will allow us to identify and eliminate these security threats the minute they enter our airspace.”

Bob Murcek, Geisinger Health System

"Synopsys evaluated the market for WLAN monitoring, including AP switching and scanning vendors, and quickly recognized the need for a dedicated sensor-based system with centralized policy monitoring and enforcement. Only AirDefense could provide this level of security and policy enforcement. Synopsys chose AirDefense for their robust intrusion detection engine that does not overwhelm you with false positives."

Van Nguyen, Director of Security, Synopsys

"For Carilion, rogue wireless LANs are a serious matter. AirDefense provides the peace of mind from knowing that we can identify and eliminate all unsanctioned wireless laptops, APs, ad hoc networks and application-specific wireless devices as they enter our airspace."

Greg Walton, Senior VP & CIO, Carilion Health System

"We were using a handheld tool for inventory of our wireless network. But when we looked to prevent patient data from leaking, we realized AirDefense was the only product that truly protects the enterprise on an ongoing basis and meets the stringent HIPAA requirements.

Mark Mollere, Senior Data Security Analyst, Methodist Hospital

"The upswing in the concern for wireless security is tremendous. During my service with the Air Force, I supported the Department of Defense and the intelligence community in a variety of space and information warfare activities. Now that I am advising companies in these areas, I make it a point to recommend a wireless policy and wireless security protection such as AirDefense offers."

Rick Larned, Air Force Brigadier General

"As a large customer of Cisco wireless infrastructure and AirDefense wireless IDS, we saw a significant benefit in bringing together the two products to build a more secure wireless network. The integration of these two major solutions should lower costs and improve security by enabling flexible deployment of IDS capability and will reduce the cost of deployment and on-going management as well as increase the level of security."

JD Fluckiger, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

"The (AirDefense) security technology has been an incredible tool for troubleshooting our network. We've noticed a few instances of network interference and were able to pinpoint why by determining which hardware was going down and which access point it was using at the time."

Brian Brindle, Senior Network Engineer, Carilion

"The company has only a small Cisco WLAN, but it uses AirDefense to monitor WLAN activity. (AirDefense Enterprise) Version 6.0 lets network managers immediately and remotely disable a rogue device with a single keystroke"

Frederick Nwokobia, Senior Engineer, Lehman Brothers

"AirDefense monitors the air and manages wireless devices. It immediately tells us if it finds a device that does not have encryption turned on."

Bob Hedglen, Manager of Information Services,
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

"After completing an exhaustive search of wireless LAN security and management solutions, DeCA concluded that AirDefense offers the only enterprise-class solution for 24x7, real-time monitoring of the airwaves that scales to support a wireless LAN deployment with more than 1,000 access points around the globe. AirDefense provides the central management functionality that allows our IT staff to monitor and manage the entire wireless LAN from a single location”

Kendra Warren, CIO

"(AirDefense) enables us at any one time to graphically depict all over the world what access points are communicating with what (wireless workstations) -- whether there is unauthorized policy set on those devices, whether there are security or performance issues”

Jeff Dow, VP News Corp.

"We are a diverse environment and have many people who want to use their own access points. It's important for us to ... set them up so they comply with the policies.”

Bo Mendenhall, Senior Information Security Analyst

"We found AirDefense to be the most robust WLAN intrusion detection system. It is easily deployed and has excellent management functionality to constantly monitor field site wireless LANs from our headquarters.”

Bob Martin, Vice President

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Media Quotes

Find Those Rogues:
“And finally, if you need round-the-clock monitoring, a product called the AirDefense RogueWatch uses a number of distributed remote sensors to monitor the airwaves for wireless LAN activity and reports all findings to a central management server appliance”

“By monitoring wireless device traffic, AirDefense can isolate, prevent, or mitigate network intrusions and subsequent downtime.”

Always-on WLAN Monitoring:
“…a more systematic process, with an around-the-clock wireless monitoring system that identifies security risks and attacks, provides real-time network audits and monitors the overall health of the wireless LAN. ”

Detection tool watches wireless links:
“…I was also pleased that the AirDefense Web console correlated events so that I didn't have to look at hundreds of separate events on the primary Web console dashboard. ”

Ten Steps to a Secure Wireless Network:
“If you have billion-dollar secrets to protect, you should have wireless-dedicated hardware security in place. AirDefense monitors activity and protects all traffic on your WLAN.”

“Industry’s first security appliance to monitor and protect wireless LANs...
the first comprehensive approach toward intrusion detection in the wireless world.”

“AirDefense fills need in WLAN security.”

"A firewall costing thousands of dollars can be completely compromised by a single incorrectly configured access point, even when the access point is behind a brick wall."

“AirDefense offers a suite of tools that make it easy to pinpoint rogue APs.”

“AirDefense torpedoes wireless threats.”

“Elixir for the WLAN paranoid … AirDefense’s namesake product could help you to keep wireless hackers and freeloaders at bay.”

AirDefense's console was the easiest to navigate, despite the incredible amount of information displayed. AirDefense provided an extensive overview of the entire WLAN, with individual statistic areas for associations, APs and clients, signal strength and traffic (by channel and amount transferred).

Each of the products provides enterprise-class reporting features, Airdefense has the most robust reporting, offering an exhaustive amount of data (well over 200 data points per device) on a minute-by-minute basis. Its reports include historical analysis and trends, and those based on device, security and policy compliance.

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Analyst Insights

“To truly secure wireless LANs, enterprises must monitor their airwaves to detect intruders and threats that can come from unscrupulous hackers and well-meaning employees. Monitoring the airwaves of a wireless LAN is an essential element of security that should also include advanced encryption and authentication.“

Richard Stiennon, Security Research Director

"Must Have" WLAN Security

Several levels of protection must be included when deploying enterprise WLANs:

• Install a centrally managed personal firewall on laptops that are issued wireless network interface cards or are bought with built-in wireless capabilities. This protects against ad hoc
WLAN connections and Internet attacks when users connect to public "hot spot" Internet providers.

• Perform wireless intrusion detection to discover rogue access points, foreign devices connecting to corporate access points and accidental associations to nearby access points in use by other companies.

• Turn on some form of encryption and authentication for supported WLAN use. The decision framework offers several ways to encrypt the wireless connection.

"Through year-end 2004, employees' ability to install unmanaged access points will result in more than 50 percent of enterprises exposing sensitive information through WLANs (0.8 probability)."

"At least 20 percent of enterprises already have rogue WLANs attached to their corporate networks, installed by users looking for convenience of wireless and unwilling to wait for the IS organization to take the lead."

“Current radio frequency scanning tools such as Sniffer Wireless and AirMagnet are limited in their ability to perform scalable and repeatable audits.”

"Until now, WLAN security solutions lacked a true intrusion detection system that provided stateful security where every WLAN session is monitored to guard against session hijacking, spoofing and session theft. AirDefense has introduced a comprehensive approach to WLAN security that provides vulnerability assessment and real-time intrusion detection."

"AirDefense "is like a wireless force field that you can't see, and you can't pass through it unless you are who you say you are."

Pete Lindstrom, Research Director

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