AirWave Wireless Management Suite 5.0 Boosts Security Features

By Dave Nagel

At Gartner's Wireless and Mobile Summit in Grapevine, TX, AirWave last week debuted its AirWave Wireless Management Suite 5.0 (AWMS) software. AirWave is a developer of wireless security and management solutions. The update to its AWMS expands management and security capabilities and sees the launch of a new "Enterprise Edition" that adds support for multi-processor servers.

AWMS 5.0, according to AirWave, expands support for WiFi solutions, including controller-based systems and autonomous access points, as well as mesh and WiMax infrastructure. On the security side, it adds a custom compliance audit feature, which allows security teams to customize alerts for specific configuration violations. This is designed to ensure compliance without flooding IT with "thousands of meaningless alarms," AirWave said.

Other new features in the updated suite include:

• Universal Device Support for root-cause analysis through the monitoring key components of the wired network infrastructure that directly impact the performance of the wireless network;
• Enhanced user interface with "QuickView" maps to locate users and devices on the network;
• Google Earth integration to locate outdoor devices and view coverage areas on a map; and
• 3D navigation to call up location maps for campuses, buildings, and specific floors.

The new Enterprise Edition also adds support for multi-processor servers and up to 2,500 devices from a single server. The AirWave Master Console, recently updated as well, provides single-console managements for systems distributed over multiple servers.

Back in November, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in Virginia implemented a wireless network with more than 7,000 access points using the company's management and security technologies. FCPS comprises some 220 schools and 164,000 students--the 13th-largest district in the United States--and had set a goal to provide wireless access to every individual classroom in the district.

The school system uses Cisco wireless access points and manages them using AirWaves' AirWave Management Platform (AMP). FCPS in November also become the first user of AirWave's Executive Portal technology, which allows users outside the IT department to view wireless network usage data on a district-wide basis in real time from a Web-based portal. The Executive Portal feature of AMP was developed with input from Fairfax County Public Schools.

AirWave Wireless Management Suite 5.0 will be available this month.

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Lightspeed Takes Databases Public

By Dave Nagel

K-12 security software developer Lightspeed Systems has made public its databases of Web content, programs and viruses, creating a searchable archive of software security threats. The service is available to the public and can be accessed at erating.com.

The "Lightspeed Archive," as the company calls it, provides three search fields that allow users to search for specific Web sites and Web site content, software programs and known viruses, Trojan horses , key loggers, spyware and hacker tools. A search for specific Web sites calls up known information from that site, including the reason for the site being identified as a threat.

It provides similar details on programs and various types of viruses.

The Program Archive contains information about software like games, media downloaders, PTP clients and other types of software that network administrators might want to control. It also includes current software updates and business applications.

For viruses, it provides definitions of those known to exist, and it offers comparisons against other antivirus vendors' lists.

Lightspeed develops network security software for IT professionals in education, and its TTC system is deployed in approximately 600 school districts throughout the United States, according to the company.

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