AirMagnet, a provider of security, performance and compliance solutions for wireless LANs, announced that the company’s 5200 series Enterprise SmartEdge 802.11n sensors have achieved United States Federal Processing Standards “FIPS” 140-2 certification for integrated wireless IDS sensors.

The Federal Information Processing Standard “FIPS” Publication 140-2 is a U.S. government computer security standard used to accredit cryptographic modules. The National Institute of Standards and Technology “NIST” issues the FIPS 140 Publication Series to coordinate the requirements and standards for cryptography modules that include both hardware and software components.

Federal agencies and departments validate that the module in use is covered by an existing FIPS 140-1 or FIPS 140-2 certificate that specifies the exact module name, hardware, software, firmware, and/or applet version numbers. Earning the FIPS certification is required before a vendor can file for Common Criteria, an international standard for computer security.

Equipped with full 802.11n support, the AirMagnet (News - Alert) 5200 series enterprise SmartEdge sensors that earned FIPS 140-2 certification are dual-band sensors offering organizations with a complete picture of the wireless environment. The sensors ensure there are no security threats or devices impeding optimal performance of the network.

Chris Roeckl (News - Alert), vice president of marketing for AirMagnet, said, “AirMagnet was the first company to receive US FIPS 140-2 for integrated wireless IDS sensors for its AirMagnet Enterprise SmartEdge sensors that deliver monitoring and analysis of Wi-Fi and non-Wi-Fi RF environments.”

Roeckl said, “Having these new sensors once again validated with FIPS certification further distinguishes AirMagnet from the competition and shows our company’s commitment to meeting the highest security standards set forth by the government.”

According to AirMagnet, the company’s Enterprise provides a simple, scalable WLAN monitoring solution. This solution facilitates any organization to proactively mitigate all types of wireless threats, enforce enterprise policies, prevent performance problems and audit the regulatory compliance of all Wi-Fi assets and users worldwide.

The company’s latest generation of AirMagnet Enterprise intelligent sensors not only provides full 802.11n support but also continues to be the industry’s only fully independent, fault-tolerant sensors, as well as the only sensors with the option to include hardware-accelerated spectrum analysis.

Officiasl with AirMagnet said in the release that the company first achieved FIPS 140 certification for its 5010 and 5012 sensors in 2005. With the latest certification, all of the company’s sensors have received certification.

AirMagnet is now a part of Fluke Networks. Its AirMagnet Enterprise is a 24x7 WLAN security and performance management solution, and AirMagnet WiFi (News - Alert) Analyzer is a tool for wireless LAN troubleshooting and analysis. Other products of the company provide WLAN site survey and design, RF interference detection, remote diagnostics, and voice over Wi-Fi analysis solution.