Going for AirTight Security

AirTight Networks of Mountain View, Calif. (formly Wibhu Technologies) says its latest version of the SpectraGuard Wi-Fi “firewall,” version 2.0, can see all forms of security issues from intruders to misconfigured APs to unwanted ad-hoc networks.

Company CEO David King says the product has abilities like those from many other vendors, such as AirDefense and Newbury Networks. However, he claims that SpectraGuard does it “in a unique way. We not only detect, but classify devices on the network. If you get an intrusion detection system, you get notified and alerted all the time. Ninety percent of the time, it’s not even on your network—detection alone isn’t enough: you need to know friend from foe.”

The auto-classification feature is new, and the company has even filed a patent on how they do it. Also new is full intrusion prevention, which prevents rogues and misconfigured APs from even getting access to the network. King adds that “we won’t blast neighbors off the air.”

They’ve also added location awareness ability to the system, to pinpoint rogues exactly.

SpectraGuard 2.0 comes either as an appliance or as software you can install on your own network. It works with hardware sensors installed as an overlay to the existing WLAN. A starter kit with two to four sensors, depending on your needs, costs $10,000.

The company has also “productized” their WLAN planning tool software, SpectraPlan. It features various RF views of a potential WLAN on a map of an office, including a “spillage view” so you can see where the WLAN is leaking beyond the perimeter of the building. It can be used to accurately place the SpectraSensor hardware that reports back to SpectraGuard. A site planning module is also included as part of SpectraGuard.