Wireless Security no Longer just a Technical Problem for Business

With portability being built into most new technologies, workers increasingly expect uncomplicated and on-demand mobile access with security commensurate to a wired environment. This evolution has created challenges and opportunities far beyond network-centric IT issues. The proliferation of mobility also is bringing new profit potential – on both revenue and expense sides of the ledger. In fact, lost business should be as much of a concern as intrusions in network security. The only effective answer is a unified wired/wireless system. To achieve that, you simply must have a unified approach to security.

One of ProCurve’s marketing managers was driving through his neighborhood recently and came upon a scene that exemplifies what we face in networking. A young man had parked his car and was sitting on the curb in front of a house on a busy street – tapping on his laptop keyboard and appearing not to care if anyone knew he was hacking into a neighbor’s wireless network. He looked up, smiled and then went back to work.

The teenager simply assumed he had a right to access the Internet when, how and where he wanted. With mobility being an integral facet of most new technologies, users now expect straightforward wireless access with security equal to that of a traditional wired environment. This expectation is one of the key issues driving network change.

Mobile access has quickly evolved from dream to luxury to competitive necessity. But many companies have yet to understand the main challenge we all face in that evolution – security.

The first step is to recognize it’s a business problem, not just an IT issue. I don’t know if the man on the curb breached an unsecured home network, but it’s clear he didn’t pay for the service. Long-term, that loss of revenue and relationship probably was more damaging to the provider than the intrusion itself.

As the pool of remote users grows, so do the opportunities – and threats. Now for some good and bad news: The challenges are the same in wired and wireless networks. As security moves from maintenance problem to business objective, organizations are learning network safeguards can affect revenue and expenses. And nothing drives change in business faster than linking it to profitability.

Unfortunately, that means your IT department is being squeezed from both ends. You are expected to become more inclusive in access options but more exclusive in managing those options. You get bogged down by access applications and resources. You are expected to repel internal and external threats both accidental and intentional. You become frustrated with the complexity of access requirements for growing numbers of user types. And many of you still battle the assumption that wired networks are inherently more secure.

Networks are too often built in a fragmented fashion, with a core foundation being established and additional functionality bolted on as an afterthought. Companies find themselves with disparate network components and services that don’t work well together, if at all. As a result, IT management is constantly scrambling to fix problems and keep the patchwork infrastructure running. And security in both the wired and wireless realms is inherently inconsistent.

A better way to build and manage an infrastructure is to establish maximum integration and commonality from network edge-to-edge. Integration of the local area network (LAN), wireless LAN (WLAN) and wide area network (WAN). Integration of security features. Integration of network management. And integration of network usability.

A unified infrastructure enables companies to enhance business operations (increasing revenue) and ease network administration (reducing costs). No longer are there redundant IT teams focusing on distinct portions of the infrastructure. No longer are there separate overlay systems for wired and wireless realms that oftentimes clash, increasing downtime and costs. No longer are there inconsistencies of security functionality that leave a company vulnerable and hinder it from meeting regulatory mandates. Without a doubt, a unified network infrastructure is essential for companies to survive and thrive in today’s business, technology and regulatory environment.

ProCurve took this decidedly different approach years ago when constructing our Adaptive EDGE Architecture. When we conceived our standards-based design that moves access control to intelligent edge switches, we saw the importance of building security functionality throughout the network – not just in the core computer.

Why is that important? If you want a unified system, you simply must have a consistent and integrated security approach, at every edge of the network. This includes the LAN edge, the WLAN edge and the WAN edge. Large proprietary systems have been the answer in previous network-centric frameworks, but today’s business-centric approach is changing that. Wireless is here to stay, so it simply must be viewed as part of an integrated, unified system. That means security must be equally effective in all areas.

It’s easy to feel defeated by the scope of the problem. However, the key to victory is keeping your focus on business objectives. From a bottom-line perspective, there are two keys to achieving a unified network – security and access control. That is especially true in enterprise environments.

With effective security and access control, a business-centric network is identity-triggered and auto-configured. That means the system manages users, not devices. The result is reliably safe access in both wired and wireless environments.

ProCurve recently announced new mobility products that deliver those cohesive wired/wireless capabilities. Though these solutions, which deliver unified wired/wireless functionality for the first time, are certainly newsworthy, they only tell part of the story. The Adaptive EDGE Architecture, which distributes security, mobility and convergence requirements uniformly throughout the network, is the true enabler of this innovation. Since security and access decisions are made at the edge of the network, network managers can integrate mobility into legacy infrastructures today while eying the future.

The needs will only grow, so unifying wired and wireless security now is a smart business decision. Like the man on the curb, workers and their clients increasingly expect organizations to easily deploy and enable mobility. Intelligent edge networking is the most reliable and cost-effective approach.

Take Allied Tube & Conduit as an example. With more than 4 million square feet of warehouse and production space, six manufacturing facilities and several other administrative and sales sites, the company had a significant task on its hands when it decided to upgrade its infrastructure. It wanted a robust network that would unify the organization, not overextend a modest technology budget, offer exceptional functionality and security and be able to grow with the burgeoning company.

Today, every Allied site employs a pure ProCurve network infrastructure based on the Adaptive EDGE Architecture, delivering a solid, unified foundation on which the company can add functionality as the business expands and needs change. What started with 800 users in 10 Allied locations has expanded to 1500 users in 40 locations throughout the United States and Brazil.

Although product performance and ProCurve’s industry leading warranties were significant factors in Allied’s initial decision to choose ProCurve, the company knew the integrated and flexible nature of the Adaptive EDGE Architecture would provide ample benefits in the future. With ProCurve products being non-proprietary, based on industry standards and able to interoperate with third party solutions, Allied has the capacity to evolve its infrastructure as the company grows and new technologies emerge.

Indeed, the flexibility of Allied’s ProCurve infrastructure has already paid significant dividends. When the company’s manufacturing division requested a more efficient means to collect and track data, Allied was able to seamlessly implement a wireless solution utilizing ProCurve wireless access points. By using ProCurve mobility solutions with wireless handheld bar scanners, the company has dramatically increased its efficiency in tracking inventory, incoming supply deliveries and outgoing product shipments.

“Wireless should be extremely difficult in our environments,” explained Rob Guthrie, senior network engineer for Allied Tube & Conduit. “Warehouses stocked with huge stacks of steel and piping create some obvious challenges when dealing with wireless technologies. But with ProCurve’s wireless access points, we have had excellent coverage and zero problems.”

The flexibility of the Adaptive EDGE Architecture also proved invaluable when Allied’s surveillance system lease expired. As the company discussed renewing its lease, Guthrie made an informal call to his ProCurve representative to ask about IP-based network cameras.

“I was pleasantly surprised when I was told we could use our existing ProCurve wireless infrastructure to implement an entirely new and vastly improved surveillance system,” Guthrie said. “We only needed a few more access points.”

Allied’s security personnel now utilize personal data assistants (PDAs) with wireless cards to monitor the company’s new IP-based network cameras. They are able to monitor any area of their facilities with real-time video on their PDAs. In the past, security personnel needed to be in a particular room watching a particular video screen to monitor specific areas or react to alarms. Today, they are able to work beyond the surveillance room to provide better, more responsive security services.

“The entire system – access points, cameras, PDAs and installation – cost less than one additional year of lease from our surveillance vendor,” Guthrie noted. “Our wireless bar scanners and IP-based cameras are perfect examples of how we were able to use the ProCurve infrastructure to easily and affordably deploy two solid, entirely new network systems.”

A unified, secure network with seamless wired and wireless capabilities can indeed reap significant business benefits. Allied Tube & Conduit is merely one example.

Of course, as the business value of networking grows, so will its appeal to abusers. If you question the threat to your organization, consider what digital piracy has done to the music industry. In the end, the only way to be free of people on the curb plugging into your network may be to invite them in for a visit. By evolving enterprise systems into secure and unified public networks, at least we can control when people stop by and what they get to see. Who knows? Eventually we may gain a friend.

Isn’t that the goal of every business?

John McHugh is Vice President and General Manager of ProCurve Networking. Under his leadership, ProCurve has risen from number eleven in the networking marketplace to the number-two position in the market, based on worldwide port shipments