Chia-Chee Kuan - Shaping Info Security - 2006 - AirMagnet

AirMagnet recognized that VoWLAN’s success hinged upon consistent, reliable performance and, especially for enterprises, its ability to be a secure method of communication. While enterprises may be familiar with the security threats they must harden their wireless networks against, running voice over wireless presents an entirely new set of security vulnerabilities, which enterprises are generally unaware of because specific security standards yet to be fully defined for VoWLAN. How could enterprises go about understanding the security risks of VoWLAN and ensuring their deployments were protected against them?

AirMagnet has a long history of wireless innovation as the first company to create security products specifically designed for wireless, rather than simply adapted from wired security products. AirMagnet’s product suite has evolved over time to address the growing security, performance and compliance concerns of enterprise-class wireless networks since the company’s founding in 2002. AirMagnet’s product suite—from its flagship AirMagnet Enterprise system with dedicated, 24x7 monitoring to its AirMagnet Survey wireless LAN design tool—ensures all wireless networks are secure and performing optimally.

With the emergence of VoWLAN about two years ago, AirMagnet began to adapt its existing product lines to incorporate dedicated VoWLAN features. As early as June 2004, AirMagnet began adding VoWLAN tools into its products, initially in the fourth generation of its Mobile product suite. The Mobile products—AirMagnet Laptop Analyzer and AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer—provided diagnostic tools to help early adopters understand and troubleshoot VoWLAN on their networks. In order to maintain the quality of VoWLAN calls, the Mobile suite offered jitter and roaming tools, which monitored frequency variation and roaming time to eliminate degraded connections and dropped calls. AirMagnet expanded upon its initial foray into VoWLAN by incorporating additional performance and quality management tools for wireless voice into Laptop Analyzer 5.0, including new alarms targeting 802.11e QoS requirements, policy-based voice management and other diagnostics tools to help administrators understand and troubleshoot VoWLAN on their networks.

As AirMagnet continued its work with VoWLAN, expanding the quality and performance tools it developed across its product lines, the company began working closely with handset and network-equipment manufacturers. As the company’s insight into the intricacies of VoWLAN increased and the technology began to experience significant growth in the enterprise, AirMagnet saw a need for a dedicated VoWLAN security and performance tool. It was up to enterprises to protect themselves from VoWLAN security risks like intercepted phone calls, unauthorized access to corporate networks, and rogue users and devices. It would be essential for those deploying VoWLAN to equip themselves with an end-to-end security system that could authenticate users and their devices, proactively detect problems that could compromise voice and data communications, and protect the privacy of the user. Because VoWLAN phones jump from access point to access point, they also presented the problem of having to authenticate each time they switched access points—creating delays and an added hassle for users on the go. For enterprises to eliminate this authentication requirement and still protect their networks from malicious threats, they would need to offer VoWLAN security through the back end. How could enterprises deploy secure VoWLAN systems while delivering the levels of performance, reliability and quality of service crucial to VoWLAN success? Leveraging the existing VoWLAN tools it had built into previous products, AirMagnet began developing an all-encompassing tool that would comprehensively manage and secure VoWLAN deployments and solve the unique VoWLAN customer pain points the company discovered in its initial years of working with the technology.

Conversations with corporate executives echoed our belief in the need for the ability to manage VoWLAN in the enterprise. As workers in industries like health care, retail and enterprise became increasingly mobile, the advantages of VoWLAN rose in significance. Companies were eager to reap the economic benefits of VoWLAN, especially when it came to fixed/mobile convergence, which allowed them to significantly reduce corporate cellular service bills. AirMagnet discovered 50 percent of corporate mobile calls came from inside company buildings. With VoWLAN, companies can maintain the same level of constant connectivity, but drastically lower wireless voice costs by transitioning cellular calls to VoWLAN when in range of the company wireless network. In addition to the cost savings, VoWLAN also offers a more reliable alternative to in-office cellular communications, which are notorious for their spotty coverage in indoor locations. End users also benefit from the convenience of using one phone for all their voice communications, which eliminates separate voicemail systems and phone directories for fixed-line phones and cellular phones. With the possibility of 24/7 availability through Wi-Fi-enabled cellular phones, companies can enjoy increased productivity while actually decreasing costs.

Wi-Fi-enabled cellular phones began appearing in the enterprise market in early 2005. Through conversations with the handset, network-equipment and IP-PBX manufacturers as well as its own early work with the technology since 2004, AirMagnet had identified the key performance challenges to successful VoWLAN deployments. The real-time nature of voice makes VoWLAN particularly sensitive to performance problems. Call jitter is the most critical issue that must be addressed, as packets must arrive within a certain time or call audio will be affected. Call roaming remains a challenge as well, as users must be able to jump from access point to access point as they move about a building without losing calls. Voice coverage dead spots and data fragmentation are pressing concerns as well, since voice requires stronger signals than data and its sensitive nature increases the risks of wireless packet damage. But how would network managers know if their VoWLAN systems were working? Usually network managers must wait for end users to complain about choppy audio, coverage dead spots and equipment failure. AirMagnet wanted to create a tool that could conduct in-depth site surveys to help enterprises meet the stringent design requirements of voice and allow network managers to proactively identify VoWLAN holes that weaken service quality and drop phone calls. Administrators also had to be able to find all possible sources of noise or co-channel interference. Because users need complete coverage as they move about the office or campus, AirMagnet began creating a tool to helps network managers design VoWLAN coverage cells with adjacent VoWLAN access points.

As AirMagnet developed its dedicated VoWLAN product, the company also felt the need to expand beyond just the performance issues of the technology and evaluate the security risks inherent in VoWLAN. If the technology could ever have a hope of being deployed in high-security enterprises, financial or government institutions, network administrators would have to be able to guarantee calls and phones were secure at all times. AirMagnet began taking a closer look at what security holes VoWLAN introduced to the wireless network, as well as what security risks were inherent in the technology.

AirMagnet introduced the industry’s first comprehensive VoWLAN tool to provide VoWLAN performance analysis, security and problem resolution in May 2006. It’s a software-based analysis tool that runs on either a desktop computer or a laptop computer, for maximum mobility. The AirMagnet Vo-Fi Analyzer is the only available tool to monitor every call from end-to-end, going beyond the traditional boundary of wireless to integrate with the call manager, or IP PBX. By providing a more complete picture of the elements affecting the VoWLAN network from both the wireless and wire side, AirMagnet is uniquely able to accurately determine the root cause of VoWLAN problems.

At the heart of all AirMagnet products is AirMagnet’s AirWISE® technology, built-in intelligence that tracks wireless devices, pinpoints WLAN problems and suggests solutions. By providing around-the-clock surveillance, AirWISE promotes proactive management and lets IT staff enjoy network-wide security that can detect and protect against both existing and new classes of security threats. The AirWISE engine provided the fundamental base for the new VoWLAN product, along with the VoWLAN tools AirMagnet had developed to date.

By working with network managers before they install their VoWLAN systems, AirMagnet helps eliminate performance and security problems by pinpointing coverage holes before they plague the network—saving enterprises thousands of dollars in troubleshooting time and lost productivity. The AirMagnet Vo-Fi Analyzer can pinpoint the source of the problem, whether it is an issue with the device, RF interference, the WLAN, QoS, or the wired network. It provides a comprehensive answer to any problem by monitoring all components of the VoWLAN system from the device to the call manager for a true end-to-end solution. By providing a more complete picture of the elements affecting the VoWLAN network from both the wired and wireless side, AirMagnet is uniquely able to accurately determine the root cause of VoWLAN problems and provide response strategies for swift problem resolution.

The Vo-Fi Analyzer prevents packet loss and reconnection attempts, which can lead to dropped calls. If an Internet page takes a few extra seconds to load, or an e-mail takes an extra minute to arrive, the impact on the user is minimal. However, when voice packets are delayed, and calls are dropped, users are negatively affected.

Call manager integration lets users connect to their call manager through the AirMagnet Vo-Fi Analyzer for end-to-end call tracking. This allows users to simultaneously monitor both the wired and wireless sides of a phone call and collect call-specific information, including the phone number, end-user details, call drop reasons and correlated wired and wireless call quality scores. By correlating wired and wireless information, users can determine if the wireless network is the culprit for poor voice quality—saving users from spending valuable time trying to track down the root cause of the problem.

AirMagnet also wanted to make sure the system in place would differentiate between voice and data traffic since each respective packet stream has different QoS and prioritization requirements. The AirMagnet Vo-Fi Analyzer validates and monitors QoS for all devices on the networks. Users can see the relative amount of voice and data traffic, identify mismatched QoS settings and ensure all traffic is handled according to QoS prioritization standards. QoS configuration validation guarantees that both wireless access points and wire-side devices are properly configured to meet the technical QoS specifications for VoWLAN.

The AirMagnet Vo-Fi Analyzer features wireless voice-quality monitoring to allow users to gauge how well their VoWLAN is performing at any given time. It calculates R-values and mean opinion scores (MOS), measurements long used by telcos to measure voice performance, by proactively monitoring the wireless airwaves for calls and measuring packet loss, jitter and delay. By providing scores for each channel as well as for every individual call and comparing them to user satisfaction levels, the Vo-Fi Analyzer provides an extremely accurate diagnosis of voice quality on the network in real time.

The AirMagnet Vo-Fi Analyzer offers VoWLAN-specific alarming to address both device issues and network issues. Auto-generated alarms alert support staff to VoWLAN problems in real time, defining issues and suggesting appropriate responses for prompt resolutions. AirMagnet drew on the wealth of knowledge found in its AirWISE analysis engine to provide users with a thorough explanation of any problems occurring and detailed suggestions of immediate next steps to take to avoid security breaches or performance problems. When a problem is detected by AirMagnet’s Vo-Fi Analyzer, its automated problem analysis tool alerts the user and explains the issue in detail—specifically naming the offending device, access point or channel involved. AirWISE covers a broad range of issues involving QoS, roaming, overloaded devices, data fragmentation and configuration. AirMagnet’s ability to drill down to the lowest level and provide a thorough explanation makes its analyzers, including the Vo-Fi Analyzer, a useful and practical tool for any administrator – whether a novice or an expert. When it comes to an emerging technology like VoWLAN, the deployments enterprises are rolling out now are likely to be many network administrators’ first experience with the technology. Armed with AirMagnet’s Vo-Fi Analyzer, administrators are capable of ensuring the performance and security of their VoWLAN deployments regardless of their previous experience—or lack thereof—with wireless voice.

The AirMagnet Vo-Fi Analyzer also offers an in-depth look at all VoWLAN devices by graphically correlating critical call metrics. Users can choose from a library of pre-built graphs or customize their own charts using the available metrics. With the comprehensive device analysis, users can determine if the VoWLAN problem is stemming from the device or the wireless LAN and pin down which user is connecting to which access point. By mapping out VoWLAN connections, separating voice traffic from data traffic for further analysis, and detecting potential device problems, network managers are assured of comprehensive analysis at the device level. With its device analysis, AirMagnet also provides a list of all device details—including information on the varying levels of protection. The AirMagnet Vo-Fi Analyzer tracks all access points, wireless phones and stations on the wireless LAN and informs network managers about what security measures are running and who is accessing each device. By helping network mangers determine which devices are unprotected, network managers can take the necessary steps to either install security on the device to meet the corporate security policy or disable its access.

Because the AirMagnet Vo-Fi Analyzer identifies all wireless phones on the network, network managers can easily identify unauthorized users and devices and track down their physical locations. Network managers can prevent hackers and rogue devices from infiltrating the network and compromising sensitive corporate information. The AirMagnet Vo-Fi Analyzer monitors all wireless call sessions as well, so network managers can track unexpected bandwidth and encryption usage to ensure users are adhering to corporate wireless policies. If an unencrypted device attempts to connect to the corporate network, the network manager can prevent access.

The creation and release of the AirMagnet Vo-Fi Analyzer is a culmination of four years of leadership in the wireless LAN market. Leveraging its expertise in wireless, AirMagnet has continued to evolve with the ever-changing needs of the dynamic wireless market to make sure the wireless networks of all of its 5,000+ customers are secure and performing well – adjusting to new technologies and devices that have solidified their places in the corporate environment. By leading the industry with the only VoWLAN analysis tool, AirMagnet underlines its position as the only truly all-encompassing wireless network assurance company in the marketplace.