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JANET Announces Wi-Fi Alliance Accepts Opensea 802.1X Supplicant
(M2PressWIREViaAcquireMediaNewsEdge)Today,theOpenSEAAlliance,ofwhichJANETisaparticipatingmember,announcedits802.1XsupplicanthasbeenacceptedintotheWi-FiAlliance'sWi-FiProtectedAccess(WPA)testbed.TheacceptanceisanimportantmilestoneinthedevelopmentofopensecuritystandardsforwirelessnetworkingandcontinuesthemomentumtowardsOpenSEA'sgoalofpromotingthedevelopmentanddistributionofanopensource802.1Xsupplicant.WiththeacceptanceoftheOpenSEAsupplicant,theWPAtestbedwillnowincludetwoopensourceandtwocommercialsupplicants,reflectingthematurityofopensourceimplementationsofkeywirelesssecurityprotocols.Withthenewtestbedcomponents,theWi-FiAllianceisadoptingthesameopensourcesoftwarealreadyusedbymanyendusersworldwide.
"StrongsecurityiscriticaltoenterprisenetworksandWi-FiProtectedAccess(WPA2)isattheheartofWi-Fi(tm)CERTIFIEDtestingforinteroperability,"saidWi-FiAllianceexecutivedirectorEdgarFigueroa."OpenSEA'sparticipationinthisprogramisinstrumentalinensuringthatenterpriseusersgetthefullbenefitofthelatestsecure,interoperablewirelesstechnology."
"TheOpen1XProjectispleasedtobeselectedfortheWi-FiAlliance'sWPAcertificationtestbed.Opensourcesoftwarehasalonghistoryofsupportingthedevelopmentandtestingofopenindustrystandardsbyprovidingreferenceimplementations.Productvendorsandendusersrelyonproveninteroperabletechnologieswhencreatingopenstandards,andtheusercommunitybenefitsfromreadilyavailablesourcecodethatallowsuserstodirectlyparticipateinthedevelopmentofthetechnology.Asmanynewtypesofwirelessdevicescontinuetobedeveloped,portablereferencecodeforwirelesssecuritywillbecomeincreasinglyimportant,"saidMatthewGast,aboardmemberoftheOpenSEAAllianceandChiefStrategistatTrapezeNetworks.
"JANEThasbeenworkingwiththeOpenSEAAlliancesince2007whenitwasfirstestablished,"saysLouisSearchwell,TechnicalSpecialist:Authentication&Authorisation."TheeffortsofbothOpenSEAandtheWi-FiAlliancearefocusedonenhancingthesecurityandusabilityofwirelessnetworks,sousersofthesupplicantwithintheUKeducationcommunitywillbepleasedthatithasbeenselectedfortheWi-FiAlliance'sWPAtestbed."
NotesforEditors
About802.1X,AuthenticatorsandSupplicants
802.1XisanIEEEstandardprovidingauthenticationinLANs.Itisusedextensivelyin802.11wirelesssecurityandisapartofWPA,andisincreasinglybeingusedinwiredEthernetenvironmentsaswell.The802.1XspecificationprovidesanauthenticationframeworkenablingendpointdevicestobeauthenticatedbyacentralauthenticationserviceusingtheExtensibleAuthenticationProtocol(EAP).Whenaclientpresentsvalidusercredentials,theauthenticationserversendsan"accepted"messagetotheauthenticatorwhichthengrantsnetworkaccesstothesupplicant.
TheOpenSEAAlliancewasformedin2007byleadingnetworkingandsecuritytechnologycompanies,includingSymantecCorporation,TippingPoint,andTrapezeNetworks,inconjunctionwithJANET(UK).SEAisanacronymfor"SecureEdgeAccess."Thegroupusestheword"open"becauseitdevelopsandpromotesopen-sourceofferings.Likewise,OpenSEAhasastrongpreferenceforimplementingeachcomponentwithopenstandards.Asdevelopersofmanyofthetechnologycomponents,OpenSEAAlliancemembersarealsokeenlyawareofthepotentialfora"seachange"astechnologiesandproductssupportingorleveragingOpenSEA'sofferingsgainbroadacceptanceandpervasivedeployment.
Endusersandnetworkmanagersbenefitgreatlyfromhavingrobustopen-sourceofferingsforsecureedgeaccessusingthelatestopenstandards.Byimplementingopenofferingsinthesecureedgeaccessarena,organizationsarenottiedtoaparticularvendororhostoperatingsystem.TheOpenSEAAlliancesourcecode,bugdatabase,documentation,andfutureplansarepublicallyavailableatalltimes.
InadditiontoITorganizations,theOpenSEAAllianceisalsodedicatedtoworkwithothertechnologyvendors,governmentagencies,academicinstitutions,andindividualcontributors.
Membersofthealliancebenefitfromthepoolingofresourcesfordevelopment,testing,promotion,andawareness.Standardsdevelopmentorganizationsbenefitfromhavingwidelyavailableimplementationsofstandardstoprovidedirectfeedbackonthetechnologyandfuturestandardsrevisions.Theywillalsoseefirsthandwhatelementsofthetechnologyisreceivingthemostinterestintheuserbase.
AbouttheWi-FiAlliance
TheWi-FiAllianceisaglobalnon-profitindustryassociationofhundredsofleadingcompaniesdevotedtotheproliferationofWi-Fitechnologyacrossdevicesandmarketsegments.Withtechnologydevelopment,marketbuilding,andregulatoryprograms,theWi-FiAlliancehasenabledwidespreadadoptionofWi-Fi,worldwide.
TheWi-FiCERTIFIEDTprogramwaslaunchedinMarch2000.Itprovidesawidely-recognizeddesignationofinteroperabilityandquality,andithelpstoensurethatWi-Fienabledproductsdeliverthebestuserexperience.TheWi-FiAlliancehascompletedmorethan5,000productcertificationstodate,encouragingtheexpandeduseofWi-Fiproductsandservicesinnewandestablishedmarkets.
Wi-Fi-,Wi-FiAlliance-,WMM-,theWi-FiCERTIFIEDlogo,theWi-Filogo,andtheWi-FiZONElogoareregisteredtrademarksoftheWi-FiAlliance;Wi-FiCERTIFIEDT,Wi-FiProtectedSetupT,Wi-FiProtectedAccess(WPA)T,Wi-FiMultimediaT,andtheWi-FiAlliancelogoaretrademarksoftheWi-FiAlliance.
AboutTrapezeNetworks
TrapezeNetworks,aBeldenBrand,isaleaderinenterprisewirelessLANequipmentandmanagementsoftware.TrapezewasthefirstcompanytointroduceNonStopWireless-deliveringunmatchedreliabilitytoenterprisewirelessLANanditssolutions.WirelessLANisoptimizedforcompaniesrequiringmobilityandhighbandwidthsuchashealthcare,education,andhospitality.TrapezedeliversSmartMobileTalsoprovidesscalablewirelessLANsforapplicationssuchasvoiceoverWi-Fi,locationservices,andindoor/outdoorconnectivity.
AboutJANET(UK)
JANET(UK)managestheoperationanddevelopmentofJANETonbehalfofJISC(JointInformationSystemsCommittee)fortheUKFurtherandHigherEducationFundingCouncilsandResearchCouncils.JANET(UK)isgovernmentfunded,withtheprimaryaimofprovidinganddevelopinganetworkinfrastructurethatmeetstheneedsoftheeducationandresearchcommunities.
AboutJANET
JANETisthenetworkdedicatedtotheneedsofeducationandresearchintheUK.ItconnectstheUK'seducationandresearchorganisationstoeachother,aswellastotherestoftheworldthroughlinkstotheglobalInternet.Inaddition,JANETincludesaseparatenetworkthatisavailabletothecommunityforexperimentalactivitiesinnetworkdevelopment.
TrademarksJANETandJANET(UK)areregisteredtrademarksoftheHigherEducationFundingCouncilsforEngland,ScotlandandWales.TheJNTAssociationistheregistereduserofthesetrademarks.
JANETtheUK'seducationandresearchnetworkandisthetradingnameofTheJNTAssociationwhoseregisteredofficeis:LumenHouse,LibraryAvenue,HarwellScienceandInnovationCampus,Didcot,Oxon,0X110SG.RegisteredinEnglandNo.2881024.
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(c)2009M2COMMUNICATIONS
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