Problems with users fall into two categories: Those caused because users are clueless and those caused because users have half a clue. The latter group is at least as dangerous as the former and often more so.

What you'd really like to do is put locks on all the PC cases, remove all CD and floppy drives, super-glue any and every cable into its socket, weld covers over every unused port and have a standing rule that any user who does anything to the equipment gets brought before the support desk and given 20 lashes. Alas, such power will exist only in your dreams.

Anyway, the current half-clued user transgression we are wrestling with is unauthorized wireless extensions to corporate networks. The problem is that 802.11 access points have plummeted in price, making it easy for any user with even the most microscopic discretionary budget to buy one.

So how do you keep tabs on authorized wireless networks and detect unauthorized access points, ad hoc networks and wireless clients? Some of the newfangled wireless LAN switches have this capability built in, but the best stand-alone tool we've found so far is from Highwall Technologies.

Highwall's solution consists of a box called the Sentinel with optional Scout Antennas. The Sentinel can detect 802.11a, b and g wireless traffic and runs an embedded version of Linux. It has two RJ45 10Base-T interfaces that support Power over Ethernet and a coaxial connection (which supports power over coaxial). The coaxial connection links to the Scout Antennas, which are used to extend the coverage of the Highwall system.

The Web-based Highwall Management Server provides the management console interface. This requires Microsoft SQL Server under Microsoft Server 2000 or higher with Internet Information Server and ASP.Net.

Configuring the Sentinel hardware requires you to browse to the default address of 192.168.0.33:10000 and change the address to be static or DHCP-allocated. We wish vendors would default to using DHCP - it would make life so much simpler.

Installing the server-based management console software is fairly easy, although you must ensure that SQL Server is configured for mixed-mode authentication (Windows and SQL Server authentication). Otherwise, the Highwall installation process will exit, requiring you to start the installation again.

Whitepapers

• Best Practices for HP Servers and HP Enterprise Virtual Array in a Microsoft Exchange
• Compliance, Protection, Recovery: A Layered Approach to Laptop Security
• Endpoint Security: Data Protection for IT, Freedom for Laptop Users
• IT Departments on Data Security: A Research Concepts Survey
• Laptop Security Tool Helps Allina Hospitals Track 97% of IT Assets
• The Case for an Untethered Enterprise

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Webcasts

• Key Considerations for a Successful 802.11n Deployment
• Free BlackBerry Technical Seminar, July 9
• The High-Touch Remote Helpdesk: Centralized Support for the Decentralized Organization
• From Wired to Wireless with Confidence - On Demand
• High Availability for SQL Server 2005 Using Array-Based Replication and Host-Based Mirroring Technologies
• Technical Overview of Exchange Server 2007 with HP Servers and Storage

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Special Reports

• Learn how to Keep your Mobile Workforce Connected
• The Wireless Explosion

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