Trapeze Builds Security Into WLAN Switches

Wireless vendor Trapeze Networks this week plans to unveil a partnership through which it will incorporate AirDefense’s WLAN intrusion detection software into its line of wireless LAN switches.

The move underscores the growing importance of security features in WLAN deployments, solution providers said.

Aubrey Brown, president and CEO of Corsa Network Technologies, a Campbell, Calif.-based Trapeze partner, said the addition of AirDefense security features will make Trapeze’s products more marketable to his wireless customers. “Anything that adds security to a wireless system increases its value to the customer,” Brown said.

While Trapeze has intrusion detection technologies it developed in-house, the partnership adds the extra layer of protection that Trapeze solution providers have been asking for, said Bruce Van Nice, vice president of worldwide marketing for Trapeze, Pleasanton, Calif.

In addition, customers are seeking monitoring tools that can be used to demonstrate compliance with HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, which AirDefense’s software makes possible, Van Nice said.“This partnership will enable us to deploy access points for both data and monitoring purposes, which will allow customers to software-define their access point mode,” Van Nice said.

AirDefense software also includes the ability to filter through network activity and determine root causes of alerts. “There is intelligence built in, and also a forensic capability, which you can use to easily characterize what happened and analyze it very quickly,” he said.

Anil Khatod, president and CEO of Alpharetta, Ga.-based AirDefense, said that when the Trapeze access points are in sensor mode, AirDefense’s technology will be able to gather data from a Trapeze WLAN switch about all devices connected to the wireless network and analyze it. “If we find a suspicious situation, we can shut down access points remotely, both from a radio frequency standpoint as well as from the wired port,” Khatod said.

The Trapeze partnership is a key focus, Khatod said. “Our integration with Trapeze goes fairly deep,” he said. The update is scheduled for release in December.