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Wireless IDS/IPS Systems

Posted by Frank Bulk
June 19, 2006

Tags: AirDefense Enterprise, AirMagnet Enterprise, Frank Bulk, Highwall Enterprise, Network Chemistry RFprotect Distributed 5.0, WIDPS, WIPS, WLAN security, ad hoc containment, client containment, distributed wireless security monitors, rogue containment, wireless IDS/IPS, wireless intrusion detection prevention, wireless security, Mobile Security , WIDS, Wireless

Channel: Wireless

We invited a mixed group of 18 vendors to our third review of wireless IDS/IPS devices. Our main focus was conventional wireless IDS/IPS players, including AirDefense, AirMagnet, AirTight Networks, Cirond, Highwall Technologies, Madge Networks, Network Chemistry, Newbury Networks, Red-M and WiMetrics, and in the end we drew our participants from this field--AirDefense, AirMagnet, Highwall Technologies and Network Chemistry sent gear to our Midwest Real-World Labs.

Client Containment Click to enlarge in another window

Cirond declined, saying its "go-to-market strategy" was in the midst of a metamorphosis; indications are the company is in the midst of a shakeup. Newbury Networks, still smarting from a scathing blog entry by one of our editors, declined our invitation.

WiMetrics focuses exclusively on the wireside portion of rogue access-point detection, and its engine is found in the Highwall Endpoint. U.K. vendors Red-M and Madge Networks didn't respond to repeated invitations, and we found out post-testing that the latter had been purchased by Ringdale. Finally, AirTight, the most notorious no-show, took lots of our time with pre-review customer and OEM partner interviews, attempting to influence the weightings on our scorecard to favor its strongest features. When we were unwilling to guarantee anything beyond our original test plan, it declined.

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