Fortress Technologies offers a security platform that specifically allows wireless clients to access the wired LAN in a secure fashion. At the heart of the platform are the vendor's Security Gateways (the AF2100 and the AF7500, previously known as the "AirFortress" line) and the new FC-X Security Controller series that offers data throughput rates of up to 1.5 Gbps.

The Fortress Technologies wireless security gateways and controllers are installed between the wired LAN and wireless access points. Software client drivers are installed on the individual wireless components (laptops, Pocket PCs, etc.) allowing them to communicate with the gateway, while the separately available Windows-based MaPS (Management and Policy Server) software facilitates the centralized management of multiple gateways and controllers (the vendor notes support for thousands of gateways and tens of thousands of users). The MaPS software additionally enables multiple forms of external authentication when client machines access the LAN through the gateways, including LDAP, Active Directory, internal database, and RSA SecurID authentication; provides role-based access control; and provides the ability to track user sessions, performance, statistics and alerts. The gateways themselves can be directly integrated with external RADIUS based authentication servers without the MaPS software.

The wireless component client drivers can be installed on Windows based laptops (98/NT/2000/XP), Pocket PCs, Windows CE based devices, and some DOS and PALM based devices (see the Fortress Technologies site for full details). For those clients and/or devices for which a client cannot be loaded, the vendor offers a Secure Client Bridge (SCB), which is a hardware device with an Ethernet port and a wireless NIC that the device can plug into. The SCB itself provides the secure connectivity to the Fortress enabled LAN.

The Fortress Security Gateways and controllers provide encrypted communications between the wireless clients and the gateways themselves, passing the unencrypted data along to the wired LAN. Communications between the gateway and the clients are encrypted via AES and are applied to Layer 2 of the network transmissions. The gateways themselves are available in two flavors: a desk top model (the AF2100) and a rack mountable version (AF7500).

New to the Fortress Product line is the vendor's FC-X series of Fortress Security Controllers; a rack mountable controller that extends the data throughput of the Fortress system up to a possible 1.5 Gbps. The controller is shipped with a Selectable Performance Module that allows the customer to purchase throughputs of 250 Mb/sec; 500 Mb/sec; or 1.5 Gb/sec per their needs.

The Fortress Technologies product line is available now. Current pricing as of this writing ranges from $2,994 for the AF2100 to $24,995 for the new FC-X with 1.5 Gbps throughput. MaPS is priced at $4,995; and individual access clients are priced at $49 for Windows/Win CE clients and $99 for DOS clients.

Visit the Fortress Technologies Web site for further information.