Locking out wireless intruders

When Intel introduced the Centrino chip in early 2003, laptop users cheered that they'd no longer be scanning the shelves of Best Buy in search of separate wireless cards for their new mobile computers. In contrast, IT staff cringed with the knowledge that built-in wireless cards in the hands of users who weren't technically savvy could wreak havoc on efforts to keep their companies' wireless networks secure.

"Wireless networks are particularly vulnerable to security breaches and attacks because the signal is wide open," explained Chuck Conley, vice president of marketing for Newbury Networks. The executive for the wireless security provider noted that, "for the first time in computing history, you don't know where your device or your user is. And because you don't know where that user is, you also sometimes don't know who that user is."

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