Security news in brief

Companies to offer self-healing wireless network

Fortress Technologies and Rajant have joined forces to deliver a self-healing wireless network for disaster-response and military operations.

Fortress' wireless network security technology will be embedded in Rajant's BreadCrumb devices, which are mobile, battery-powered, wireless local-area network systems, company officials said. As a result, the companies will offer self-configuring, wireless broadband network systems to meet the demands of first responders and critical military deployments.

In a number of major incidents such as the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, telecommunications infrastructures were overloaded with traffic and inaccessible to first responders. The BreadCrumb devices fill this communications gap, Rajant officials said.

BreadCrumbs are ruggedized broadband devices the size of lunchboxes that can be deployed rapidly and easily to create a wireless mesh network. The devices are compatible with any wireless device meeting 802.3 Ethernet and 802.11b wireless standards. The devices were used to enable voice, data and video communications during tsunami relief efforts in Thailand.

Fortress will provide the embedded Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 Layer 2 encryption to ensure that all information transmitted across the broadband networks will be secure.

Micromuse completes acquisition of security vendor

Officials at Micromuse, a provider of business and service assurance software, have completed their acquisition of GuardedNet, a provider of security information management software.

Micromuse can now offer an integrated suite of fault, performance and security management software to businesses and government agencies. With GuardedNet¹s neuSecure product family, Micromuse officials can provide real-time security monitoring, incident management, risk migration, auditing and regulatory compliance.

The product line integrates with more than 100 security devices and includes compliance reports for legislation such as the Sarbanes-Oxley and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability acts.

The security information management systems will work with Micromuse's Netcool suite to deliver a complete service management solution, company officials said.

Education taps NetIQ for security

The Education Department is using software from NetIQ to secure information being shared across various locations, company officials recently reported.

NetIQ Security Manager allows Education officials to provide an automated infrastructure that protects against downtime and loss of confidential data, ensures that layered defenses are in place, and pulls data from various security products into a central security console for real-time notification and automated response to suspicious activity.