Security to find spotlight at Interop

It seems only fitting that with the country's focus on shoring up personal and national defenses that this week's NetWorld+Interop 2002 Atlanta show will focus on network security products.

A harvest of wares from vendors such as Foundry Networks, Funk Software and newcomer SaberFile promise to add authentication and security to all areas of corporate networks.

Against a backdrop of economic malaise, attendance for the show is projected optimistically at 30,000 - down from the more than 50,000 the show used to draw. Several large network vendors also will be absent on the show floor, including Alcatel, Avaya, Cable & Wireless, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Network Associates and Nortel. Cutbacks were given as the main reason why many vendors were skipping the fall event. Low turnout also could be blamed on the fact that the show falls on the week of the anniversary of Sept. 11.

But the show must go on, promoters say, and much of the talk at N+I will focus on the 802.1x protocol, a method for authenticating network users at Layer 2, or the data-link layer, of a network connection, which is a hot security topic in the wireless and wired network communities.

The show's InteropNet Labs will feature a vendor-neutral proving ground for 802.1x technology among wireless LAN vendors (see related story, page 51). Also, lots of new 802.1x-based gear will be on display.

"Wireless security has always been a grave concern, especially in the retail environment," says Kip Miles, a retail IT executive who is attending N+I to learn more about wireless LAN security technologies.

"Right now, a lot of the security features that come embedded in [wireless LAN] equipment are not up to snuff," Miles says.

Miles says many application vendors in his industry sell software that takes advantage of wire-less networks, but security is often an afterthought. "It be-comes a chore for a store's IT department to wrap security around the network or to add a layer of security to that application."

Funk and ReefEdge will have 802.1x-based products for wireless LAN management and security.

Funk will announce wireless LAN security and management features with upgrades for its Odyssey Server and Steel-Belted Radius server software products. Funk says its Odyssey security server can be used to add and remove users from a wireless LAN network, and configure users' permissions. The company says the 802.1x technology can work with hardware from wireless gear vendors.

ReefEdge will have Version 3.0 of its ReefEdge Connect System for managing wireless LANs, with support for managing IP telephony users on an 802.11-based network. The software will work with Spectralink's line of wireless IP telephones.

"Wireless networks can be just as secure as their wired counterparts," says Craig Mathias, principal at the network consultancy Farpoint Group, who will give several lectures on security at the show. While the technology is becoming a buzzword among wireless security enthusiasts, Mathias says the protocol can help secure 802.11-based LANs and hard-wired nets.

"802.1x is emerging as an important piece to the security puzzle, but it's just one piece," Mathias says. Encryption methods such as Kerberos and VPN technologies also play a role, he adds.

Along that line, Foundry will roll out new IronWare switch firm-ware for its line of FastIron LAN boxes that will incorporate port-based 802.1x security. The upgrade could let any of Foundry's FastIron enterprise switches force wireless clients to authenticate to a LAN port on the switch before gaining access to the network.

The upgrade also includes switch redundancy and failover features and a media access control-based security feature that can be used to lock out unauthorized network PCs and devices.

Also on the authentication front, Infoblox will have two new appliances it says can help companies deploy Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) and Light-weight Directory Access Pro-tool (LDAP) servers. The company says its RADIUS One server appliance can plug into a network and simplify the deployment of RADIUS authentication. The new LDAP One appliance can do the same for integrating LDAP into a company.

Securing servers

With recent news such as the Microsoft Windows security vulnerabilities and SQL Server flaws posing security threats to NT and Windows 2000 boxes, Shavlik Technologies will release a free utility called HFNetChkLT. The tool automates patch scans on an unlimited number of machines, detects missing or misconfigured operating system patches, pushes operating system patch fixes to every machine, and creates detailed assessment and remediation reports. The tool also provides users with real-time access to Microsoft's patch database.

Also on the server front, start-up SaberFile will debut its SaberFile-HQ, an appliance that controls access to files stored on a corporate network on any platform. The gateway consolidates administration of file access rights using its Policy Manager feature and integrates with corporate directories to handle authentication of users. The gateway can be installed behind a firewall or used to provide access to company files for external users.

Beyond security

N+I has seen better days in terms of vendor and attendee turnout, but issues such as convergence and upgrading network infrastructures for the future have not disappeared, says Bobby Johnson, CEO of Foundry, who is giving a keynote at the show.

"I think given the economy, many enterprises have put a little bit of a cap you could say on some deployment plans," Johnson says. "But as people start looking to replace old FDDI and ATM networks, they'll look to next-generation Ethernet-based solutions. They certainly don't want the network to be a bottleneck down the road."

Also at N+I: