AirDefense Fights In All Environs

AirDefense Enterprise 6.0 incorporates self-managing intrusion protection designed to identify rogue devices, protect against viruses and other threats, and pinpoint potential problems as they arise.

Jay Chaudhry, chairman and founder of the Alpharetta, Ga.-based vendor, said the solution works when users are connected to a wired network and when they take their laptop computers into a wireless environment where security levels are unknown.

"AirDefense Enterprise 6.0 protects customers in every environment," Chaudhry said. "The system is designed to completely put customers at ease."

Central to AirDefense Enterprise 6.0 is AirDefense Personal, the self-managing intrusion-protection system. This solution resides on a mobile user's computer and watches for malicious or accidental wireless activity and configuration glitches that may cause security exposures or policy violations. If a threat is discovered, AirDefense Personal triggers a response mechanism that works to remedy the issue immediately.

AirDefense Enterprise 6.0 also automatically analyzes rogue devices and pinpoints those that present the highest threat level. Using policy-based defenses, the solution also automatically stops illegitimate wireless activity, and enables network administrators to take action from the wired side of the network to disable a wireless device automatically or on command.

"With this technology, customers can control not only what they have in their own environment, but also what they are doing when they take their laptops out into the world," said John Sieg, business security executive at International Systems Marketing, an AirDefense solution provider in Pittsburgh. "From an enterprise perspective, that's a technology I think just about every customer would want to have."

AirDefense Enterprise 6.0 is slated for release by the end of the month. Pricing depends on the size of the organization and starts at $6,995 for four sensors and a server covering a 100,000-square-foot facility.