AirMagnet Enterprise achieves FIPS 140-2 compliance

AirMagnet, the leader in wireless LAN (WLAN) security and performance solutions, today announced that its AirMagnet Enterprise SmartEdge Sensor software algorithms are compliant with the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 standard according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). FIPS 140-2 validation is necessary for selected government deployments and allows AirMagnet's SmartEdge Sensors to be used by federal agencies and other organisations that mandate stringent security measures in order to protect critical and sensitive data.

FIPS 140-2 is a government standard that helps validate security claims for technology products using cryptology, a branch of representative mathematics that is applied to ensure the secure transfer of information. FIPS 140-2 compliance is recognised by the U.S. government, as well as federal agencies in Canada (CSE), Europe and Australia. U.S. government purchasing agents are required by law to purchase FIPS 140-2-compliant products over non-complying technology. Financial organisations also commonly use FIPS 140-2-compliant products due to the sensitivity of the information they share and store.

"As the only infrastructure-agnostic WLAN security solution to receive FIPS compliance, AirMagnet is ahead of the market," said Wai-Sing Lee, a Frost & Sullivan industry analyst. "It really strengthens AirMagnet's position in the federal market and gives it substantial credibility with organisations that have to adhere to the same strict levels that the government does."

AirMagnet is the solution of choice among financial institutions and state, local and federal governments. Financial and government customers largely use AirMagnet products for two applications. Some use AirMagnet as most other customers do - to monitor, administer and secure an organisation's wireless networks across dispersed office locations, and protect against potential network trespassers and rogue access points, denial-of-service attacks, spoofs, dictionary attacks, and dozens of other exploits that can cripple a wireless network or expose sensitive data. Some of AirMagnet's financial and government customers differ from other AirMagnet users in that they observe "no wireless" policies, and use AirMagnet products to secure their perimeter and ensure that no wireless networking equipment of any kind can penetrate their networks. Hundreds of government organisations and financial institutions use AirMagnet products to secure their wireless networks.

"This is an important milestone for AirMagnet - FIPS testing is both time-consuming and rigorous," said Dean Au, president and CEO of AirMagnet. "FIPS compliance furthers our position as the clear wireless security choice for the federal, defence and financial markets, where organisations simply have no tolerance for security breaches."