Wi-Fi

Searching for Wi-Fi
Security Solutions
By Beth Cohen and Debbie Deutsch

At the recent Boston 802.11 Planet Conference and Expo, the aisles and booths were bustling with activity, giving ample proof that Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity, or more properly, wireless networking) has finally come of age. The hardware gear venders "switch, carriers, integrators, chip manufacturers, and antenna" were all there in force, of course. However, the big news was that the show was dominated by vendors addressing network security, with new solutions from the network, software, and hardware perspectives.

Security has long been the Achilles heel of the wireless industry. Set aside the security issues, though, and the case for wireless networking is overwhelmingly compelling, it's cheap, easy, and portable. Now that the industry is addressing the problem head-on with new solutions for manageable and acceptable network security, Wi-Fi may well be a choice that enterprises should be considering (or rec...