New 802.11 Encryption Technology from Nextcomm Secures Wireless networks
NextComm, Inc., today announced the launch of its Key Hopping(TM) technology that vastly improves the security of
the 802.11a and 802.11b standards used in wireless local area networks.
"The technology that has allowed e-commerce to flourish over the Internet now protects corporate data over the
airwaves," said NextComm CEO Jerry Wang. "In the past, security has been a concern with the 802.11 standard, and
rightly so. Now, with our Key Hopping technology, wireless LAN users can rest easy knowing their data is secure."
Key Hopping from NextComm is based on MD5, the same technology used in secure credit card authentication over
the wireline Internet. The technology uses a key management system that allows the radio to switch security keys on a
frequent basis to inhibit intruders from adapting to air traffic and breaking the encryption.
The Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol, the de facto security standard in 802.11 to date, offers little resistance
to intruders due to significant design flaws.
"When you're talking about security, you're really talking about two elements -- the strength of the lock, and how
difficult it is for the attacker to find the key. The way WEP uses the lock is inadequate because the key patterns generated
are easily identified," said Wang. "With Key Hopping, we use the MD5 algorithm and fast key management techniques to
increase the complexity of the resulting key patterns. So, they can't be analyzed as quickly -- it would take years to
crack."
It has been widely recognized that the WEP standard can be cracked in as few as 15 minutes.
Other Wireless LAN vendors have proposed a variety of encryption schemes in an effort to improve on WEP.
However, the shortcomings of these proposed security implementations are twofold: the added cost of an additional
access control server, making 802.11 implementation too costly for the SOHO market, and incompatibility with
third-party end user cards.
Key Hopping technology will be first introduced in NextComm's upcoming NC7010, an 802.11b Media Access
Controller (MAC) IC. NextComm plans to work with OEMs to implement Key Hopping on both sides of 802.11
networks -- with end user access cards as well as in access points. The technology will undergo trials in October, and
wireless LAN products featuring Key Hopping are slated for production at the end of this year.
