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Volume 2, Number 2 | February 27, 2006 |
In This Issue• Secure Wireless Networks Relevant Links• ZAG Technical Services, Inc. Contact Us | Technology Report Secure Wireless Networks
When wireless solutions first came out, security minded IT personnel fought the implementations. Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) were originally felt to be inherently insecure. Terms such as War Driving arose from this insecurity. War Driving describes hackers who drive around looking for wireless networks that they can either hack or use for other nefarious purposes. There have been several solutions deployed to minimize the security risks of WLANS. These range from having wireless networks that are completely outside of the Corporate network, utilizing WEP, utilizing VPNs or IPSec over wireless to secure the traffic. Many of these solutions are less than ideal. They often end up adding a host of other issues, such as usability, complexity and the like. Fortunately, there is a secure and easy to manage wireless solution that can be deployed. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), along with other standards organizations, has worked diligently to redefine and improve wireless security standards to enable WLANs to stand up to the hostile security environment of the early twenty-first century. Thanks to the efforts of these organizations and industry leaders, "WLAN security" is no longer an oxymoron. Now you can deploy and use WLANs with a high level of confidence in their security. Based on the 802.1x standard with Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), these wireless solutions provide customers with what is needed out of a wireless deployment:
To make this solution transparent, a Windows Enterprise Edition Server should be used as the Certificate Authority for the environment. This added cost, however, is well worth the security and ease of use of the wireless solution. Most new Wireless Access Points, including Cisco and Netgear, support the 802.1x standard with WPA. In fact, the standard has been around long enough that the majority of Wireless NICs also include the required support. Windows XP is the platform of choice to run this on. It is recommended that customers standardize on one Access Point solution. This will enable users to use smooth roaming as they move about the campus. Wireless networks have matured to the point where they can be deployed securely and allow transparent access to end users. They are no longer something to be feared. Instead, they can be relied upon to improve productivity and efficiency. ZAG Excels in Nationwide Microsoft Customer Satisfaction Survey Last January, Microsoft commissioned an independent third party to perform an in depth survey of its Partners' customer satisfaction. ZAG Technical Services, Inc. (ZAG), as a Microsoft Gold Partner, was included in this survey.
Microsoft recently announced that ZAG placed in the top 15% of customer satisfaction of all participating Microsoft Partners in the nation. In fact, well over 90% of customers gave ZAG the highest rating possible. All other customers gave ZAG the second highest rating, thereby solidifying ZAG's excellent ranking.
As Jim Hunton, Principal at ZAG states, "We are extremely pleased to see the hard work of our engineers be recognized by this Microsoft survey. The dedication to our customers is something that we have built the company on. We will continue to work to keep this high customer satisfaction rating."
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