CA`s wireless site management 4.0 bolsters security, streamlines management for WiFi

Computer Associates International, Inc today announced general availability of CA Wireless Site Management 4.0, a powerful solution that enables customers to reap the benefits of WiFi technology while minimising the associated security risks and administrative workloads.

CA WSM reduces the time, effort and resources required to manage WiFi infrastructures and wired networks across the extended enterprise. It identifies "rogue" (unauthorised) devices and access points, provisions user access using appropriate client software, and enables IT administrators to manage corporate security policies for wireless use.

"In our distributed, campus environment, it is critical to detect unauthorised access points and wireless devices that could create security vulnerabilities or jeopardise system performance," said Jeff McGee, CIO, Bossier Parish Community College in Louisiana. "Within minutes of deploying CA`s Wireless Site Management, we were able to discover and disable more than a dozen rogue devices - proving that CA WSM could effectively protect our environment while easing essential WLAN management tasks."

According to IDC, organisations have large and growing amounts of wireless devices to secure and manage daily, but have limited resources for doing so. The complexity associated with managing these wireless devices is increasing exponentially as end-users become more mobile-savvy.

"It is important that companies use wireless security and management solutions that reduce the complexity of wireless computing for IT, protect and ensure wireless ROI, and maintain end-user performance through seamless, heterogeneous integration," said Stephen Elliot, senior analyst of network management at IDC. "CA Wireless Site Management provides a robust set of features to secure and manage a wireless network with the seamless integration of wired and wireless networks, providing for more cost-efficient operations."

CA WSM integrates with CA`s eTrust security management solutions to enforce and manage enterprise-wide security policies. It augments the company`s Unicenter operations management solutions to provide a single interface to manage the wireless infrastructure as an extension of the heterogeneous wired infrastructure. CA WSM also enables IT administrators to:

* Secure WiFi environments with effective access controls: CA WSM identifies all wireless infrastructure components and their physical locations, enabling administrators to identify and disable rogue devices easily. It automatically generates, distributes, rotates and synchronises WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) keys for secure wireless communications, based on policies defined by security administrators. CA WSM also helps eliminate unauthorised network access by enabling administrators to visualise WiFi environments on a location-aware map and define the physical areas where the wireless network can be used. User access can also be restricted to certain times during the workday.

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* Manage WiFi infrastructure with 24x7 monitoring capabilities: CA WSM manages and monitors the configuration, performance and quality of enterprise WiFi networks. It facilitates optimal throughput to each connected user by automatically balancing the number of connections on each access point. Built-in reports provide instantaneous information on security vulnerabilities, usage and performance.

"Network complexity and security compliance present formidable challenges to IT organisations as they incorporate wireless technology into their enterprise computing environments," said Yogesh Gupta, senior vice-president and CTO at CA.

"CA WSM uniquely addresses these challenges by helping to eliminate the security risks and management headaches associated with WiFi implementations. In addition, by integrating with CA`s Unicenter and eTrust solutions, CA WSM empowers IT to effectively manage and secure their wireless and wired infrastructure in a holistic manner - thereby reducing total technology ownership costs."

CA WSM has been engineered to work with third-party hardware devices. It currently integrates with radio frequency sensors from Highwall Technologies Inc, a designer and developer of software and hardware that supports the security and management of WLANs and protects wired networks from unauthorised wireless devices.

"We are very excited about working with CA to manage and secure WLANs from both a wired and wireless perspective," said Joy Randels, senior vice-president at Highwall Technologies. "The out-of-the-box integration of CA WSM and the Highwall radio frequency sensors will provide customers with the added advantage of over-the-air rogue device detection and advanced RF information analysis."