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AirTight Networks Announces Four-Tiered Network Architecture to Secure, Manage Wireless Networks with Millions of Devices Solutions scale from a single laptop to millions of laptops, phones, and APs Mountain View, CA - May 31, 2006 - AirTight® Networks, the leading provider of wireless perimeter security solutions, today announced four new products which combine into AirTight’s four-tiered network architecture to secure and manage networks supporting millions of wireless devices. AirTight Networks leads the industry in providing a robust, scalable, and manageable wireless intrusion prevention system (WIPS) capability, as well as a WLAN troubleshooting and management capability that can see, protect, and manage millions of WLAN devices simultaneously.   AirTight Networks’ Wireless Intrusion Prevention and Performance Management (WIPPM) architecture is comprised of four tiers: the wireless devices or clients, wireless sensors which see and protect the clients, the WIPPM server(s) which manages the sensors, and a Management Console which provides visibility, intrusion prevention, and management capabilities across multiple WIPPM servers and millions of wireless devices.   AirTight’s WIPPM architecture delivers lower capital and operations costs for a wireless network infrastructure, as well as higher performance, higher reliability, and higher security on that wireless infrastructure. Capital cost savings stem from enhanced placement and utilization of the wireless infrastructure – through better planning and management visibility. Operational cost savings are driven by the need for fewer people as well as management and compliance reporting, improved diagnostics, and tools that allow for faster and more accurate and effective response to wireless problems that occur. Higher performance on the wireless network is provided through more efficient management and protection of the spectrum, both proactive and reactive. Higher reliability is delivered both through the intrusion prevention capabilities (preventing downtime) as well as the management capabilities of the system. Higher security is the cornerstone deliverable – of SpectraGuard Enterprise – through intrusion detection, prevention, and location of wireless threats – automatically, accurately, and robustly – no matter how they occur, across tens of thousands of sensors and millions of devices.   SpectraGuard® Product Family The new products include SpectraGuard Managed Network Console (MNC) release 1.0, SpectraGuard Enterprise release 5.0, a new high capacity hardware appliance for SpectraGuard Enterprise, as well as SpectraGuard SAFE (Security Agent For Endpoints) release 2.0. All of these products fit within AirTight’s Wireless Intrusion Prevention and Performance Management architecture.   The SpectraGuard MNC is a central management and reporting appliance and console that can consolidate, view, and manage the activities of multiple SpectraGuard Enterprise (SGE) server appliances. With this console, enterprises now have extremely flexible configuration and security options – to manage different geographies or business units with their own WLAN infrastructure and security policies. As customer demand and installations grow, the SpectraGuard MNC will grow with them enabling them to manage millions of wireless devices from a single control point.   Release 5.0 of SpectraGuard Enterprise (SGE) delivers a number of important features. In support of the AirTight WIPM architecture and in conjunction with the SpectraGuard MNC, SGE 5.0 adds capabilities for multiple tiered levels of management, as well as scalability and performance enhancements that will support the requirements of the largest enterprises. In addition, SGE 5.0 adds the ability to manage tens of thousands of SpectraGuard SAFE clients from a single server/appliance, providing a new level of wireless security management to the enterprise. SGE 5.0 will ship to all new customers and be available as an upgrade to the AirTight installed base in June.   AirTight Networks is also introducing a new higher capacity hardware server/appliance for SpectraGuard Enterprise – that provides support for thousands of sensors. In conjunction with the original SpectraGuard Enterprise appliance and SpectraGuard MNC, enterprises can now design their WLAN management hierarchy in the optimal fashion for their deployment – segmenting their WLAN network and security operations functions just as they do for their wired network.   Lastly, AirTight Networks is shipping release 2.0 of SpectraGuard SAFE (Security Agent For Endpoints). SAFE, which runs on a Windows XP device – manages the wireless connections on that device and ensures that the user does not engage in unsafe behavior that either compromises the safety of that device or the safety of the network to which it is attached. SAFE 2.0 provides enhanced security features, managing more wireless connectivity options from the laptop/client - as well as providing the centralized management option that is linked to SGE 5.0. As metro-wireless rollouts proliferate and individuals have more and more wireless access options, the added security provided by SpectraGuard SAFE becomes increasingly important – both to the individual and the corporate/enterprise network.   AirTight Networks’ SpectraGuard Enterprise has established its industry leadership position by delivering the key elements of an effective wireless intrusion prevention system (WIPS): detecting and correctly classifying wireless threats – to catch all threats, while minimizing false alarms preventing (multiple, simultaneous) wireless threats – while continuing to scan for new ones accurately locating the wireless threats on a floor map – so they can be removed.   As wireless usage is now commonplace, these patented capabilities, along with the wireless management capabilities now embedded in all of AirTight’s products, are critical to ensuring the cost-effective, secure, reliable performance of any enterprise network infrastructure.   “These announcements clearly position AirTight as the leader in performance and scalability in the wireless intrusion prevention and performance management (WIPPM) market,” said Dennis Tsu, vice president of marketing at AirTight Networks. “AirTight is the only vendor to have a four-tiered architecture and a Managed Network Console (MNC) capability to be able to manage geographically disperse network segments as an integrated whole – and scale to manage millions of devices.”   AirTight Networks’ family of products includes SpectraGuard MNC, SpectraGuard® Enterprise, SpectraGuard Sentry, SpectraGuard Planner, and SpectraGuard SAFE (Security Agent For Endpoints) products. As shown in the recently released Tolly Group report and the March 2006 Information Security magazine bake-off, AirTight’s SpectraGuard Enterprise outperforms its competitors in wireless intrusion prevention functionality.   The entire range of products will be available in June 2006. Pricing for the solutions range from SpectraGuard SAFE Personal Edition with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $9.95 to SpectraGuard MNC with a base price of $20,000. A total WIPM network infrastructure to protect and manage millions of wireless devices can be installed for under $3 per user per month – a cost that would be quickly re-paid in wireless network performance and savings. About AirTight Networks AirTight Networks, the industry standard for wireless vulnerability management, is the only company that offers customers a flexible, end-to-end solution that gives them visibility into their wireless security posture and a choice in how to manage it. AirTight provides full wireless intrusion prevention systems (WIPS) and the world’s first on demand wireless vulnerability management service. AirTight’s patented technology delivers the key elements of an effective WIPS to eliminate false alarms, block wireless threats immediately and automatically and locate wireless devices and events with pinpoint precision. AirTight’s customers include global retail, financial services, corporate, education and government organizations. AirTight Networks is a privately held company based in Mountain View, CA. For more information please visit www.airtightnetworks.com Media Contacts: Della Lowe AirTight Networks Tel: +1 (650) 934 8191 della.lowe@airtightnetworks.com AirTight Networks, and the AirTight Networks logo are trademarks; and AirTight and SpectraGuard are registered trademark of AirTight Networks, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. << Back to: Press Releases