Summit First with 802.11i-Based FIPS 140-2 on CE/Mobile

Tag : AES implementation
AKRON, Ohio Aug. 15, 2008 -- Summit Data Communications, a leadingprovider of Wi-Fi ® radio
modules and cards for mobile computers and other business-criticalmobile devices, today announced that devices with its radios thatrun the Juniper Networks Odyssey ® Access Client FIPS Edition (OAC FE) can be compliant with afederal government security standard known as FIPS 140-2. Thepartnership with Juniper Networks makes Summit radios the first tosupport FIPS 140-2 with IEEE 802.11i, the ratified standard forWi-Fi security, on Windows CE and Windows Mobile ® . Summit ’ s support for Juniper Networks OAC FE makes its debut in V2.01 ofSummit software, which runs with all Summit radios.
“ Many federal government installations have standardized on 802.11i, ” said Ron Seide, Summit ’ s president. “ But those installations also require FIPS 140-2 support and don ’ t want to abandon 802.11i to get FIPS. Now, mobile computers andother business-critical devices that run Windows CE and WindowsMobile can use Summit radios and OAC FE to support FIPS 140-2 with802.11i. ”
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issuesFederal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) publications. TheFIPS 140-2 publication “ specifies the security requirements that will be satisfied by acryptographic module utilized within a security system protectingsensitive but unclassified information. In other words, the publication defines the requirements forsoftware modules that perform cryptography, or encryption anddecryption, of sensitive data.
Devices that pass all Wi-Fi Alliance ® tests for 802.11i support are certified for the Enterprise versionof Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 ™ , or WPA2 ™ - Enterprise. AES-CCMP, the encryption algorithm required forWPA2, is sufficient for FIPS 140-2. Most of today ’ s Wi-Fi radios provide hardware support for AES-CCMP, but NISTrequires that AES-CCMP be implemented in software. Juniper Networksincorporates the Odyssey ® Security Component, a cryptographic module that is FIPS validated,which implements AES-CCMP in software.
By default, a Summit radio performs all AES-CCMP encryption anddecryption in hardware. When the FIPS validated cryptographicmodule in Juniper Networks OAC FE is invoked, the Summit radiopasses control to the OAC FE cryptographic module for allencryption and decryption. Prior to Summit ’ s implementation of support for OAC FE, only Wi-Fi devices runningWindows XP or Windows 2000 could use OAC FE for 802.11i-based FIPS.
Support for Juniper Networks OAC FE is available with V2.01 ofSummit software, which is generally available now. Mobile computerswith Summit radios and Juniper Networks OAC FE will make theirdebut in Q4 2008.
About Summit
Summit Data Communications, Inc. is dedicated to providinghigh-performance wireless LAN radio modules and cards for today ’ s business-critical mobile devices, such as mobile computers,portable printers, medical devices, and industrial automationequipment. Summit radios are optimized for the challenging radioenvironments in which business-critical mobile devices operate,including factories, warehouses, ports, hospitals, and retailstores.
Information Source: Business WIre