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The IEEE has finally approved the 802.11n high-throughput wireless LAN standard.
There’s been no public announcement yet by IEEE. But Bruce Kraemer, the long-time chairman of the 802.11n Task Group (part of the 802.11 Working Group, which oversees the WLAN standards), has sent out a notification to a listserv for task group members, which includes a wide range of Wi-Fi chip makers, software developers, and equipment vendors.
The brief e-mail was sent just after 11 a.m. EST today. Kraemer announced that the Standards Board had approved both 11n and a companion standard: 11w, for protecting data in 802.11 management frames.
“Although this e-mail vehicle falls far short of expressing the sentiment, thanks to the hundreds of 802.11members that contributed to these efforts, as well as the 802 EC and the IEEE Staff,” Kraemer wrote.
The Task Group was formally launched on Sept. 11, 2003 . A “Study Group” had been formed a year earlier, to weigh the feasibility of creating a standard that would be the basis for wireless LANS with a minimum of 100Mbps throughput. Today’s Wi-Fi-certified WLAN products, based on draft 2.0 of the standard, typically deliver from 150Mbps to somewhat over 200Mbs, based on two spatial streams.
The Wi-Fi Alliance has said it will update its Wi-Fi certification program on Sept. 30 to begin testing WLAN products that meet the full standard. Only a few additions have been made to the standard in the past 2 years, and these all involve optional features. According to the Alliance, users can expect future Wi-Fi products to be fully compatible with today’s products.
Intel’s emphasis right now is on Clarkdale, the Nehalem-based mainstream lineup centering on a 32nm process shrink. Clarkdale will be the foundation on which upcoming Core i5 and Core i3 CPUs are based. It’s a big deal for Intel. So big, in fact, that I was told jokingly two weeks before the Lynnfield launch that the whole company had been focusing on Clarkdale, not the Core i5 and Core i7 we’re seeing today.
Of course, that’s only really funny for the folks who’ve already seen how the Lynnfield-based processors actually perform and know they’re not as anemic as an enthusiast might expect, given the fact that Intel is aggressively pursuing integration, aiming for a SoC-type design in the not-so-distant future.
But Clarkdale is six months away, at least. Today is all about Lynnfield—the Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs for Intel’s LGA 1156 interface.
The Venerable Core 2 Rides Off…Sort Of
With the divulging of its Core i7, Core i5, and Core i3 branding, Intel quietly rang the death knell of its Core 2 family, which has been with us for more than three years now, gently massaging away memories of a day when the company ravenously chased after faster clocks.
That transition won’t happen immediately, though—or even quickly for that matter. Well into the fourth quarter of next year, Intel’s Core 2 architecture will remain a value play. Even today it’s going to persist as a viable option for entry-level buyers.
Core 2 Quads span from $163 to $316 in the company’s August 9th price list. Core 2 Duos range from $113 to $266. Does the trio of CPUs being launched today wreck a number of those price points? Absolutely. Do the three Lynnfield processors we’re seeing now, from $199 to $555 smother Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Duo to the point that everyone will spend at least $200 on their next CPU? Obviously not.
Wait, Define Mainstream
To make a long story a little shorter, Bloomfield sits at the top of Intel’s stack as Core i7 for LGA 1366. Lynnfield now occupies a space between the high-end and the mid-range segments. Yorkfield (Core 2 Quad) becomes this transitional family that tides Intel over until Clarkdale launches in Q1’ 2010. And Wolfdale continues on in the dual-core Pentium family through the course of 2010.
If you would have considered a Core 2 Quad or Phenom II X4 previously, the lone Core i5 will be of interest to you. If you were previously pondering a Core i7 for LGA 1366, the Core i7-860 and -870 are now vying for your attention with price points disturbingly similar to the i7-920 and -950, respectively. How’re you supposed to choose between CPUs when architecture, functionality, and pricing are all so similar?
In addition iPhone 3.1 beefs up the iPhone's ringtone capability, allowing you to download over 30,000 ringtones from major labels via a Ringtones section in the iPhone's iTunes application. Ringtones will cost $1.29 apiece, and automatically show up in the iPhone's Settings once they've been downloaded.
iPhone 3.1 is free for all iPhone and iPod touch owners will be available on Wednesday via iTunes.
Source: Macworld
About the author: Jay Sartori, CISSP, Security+, CCSP, MCSE, is an IT security analyst with over 12 years of IT experience. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and a master’s in network security management.
As an IT security professional, I was tasked with evaluating the iPhone’s security features for the enterprise . Over the past few weeks, I have been testing different aspects of the new iPhone 3GS, particularly the interaction with Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) and device password policies. During my testing, I discovered some strange behaviors with how the iPhone handles device password policies, as well as passwords altogether.
iPhone security considerations
It has already been proven that the passcode on an iPhone can be removed. The purpose of this article is to point out the false sense of security delivered through Apple’s marketing of iPhone features for the enterprise. My testing has revealed that the enterprise security features do not behave correctly and I will point out three flaws with how passwords are handled with the iPhone and EAS.
The setup for my testing consisted of a 16GB iPhone 3GS running firmware 3.0.1. The iPhone was configured to use Exchange ActiveSync mail going through a proxy server. The proxy server was an F5 Firepass which provides similar functionality as an ISA server to proxy connections to EAS. The Exchange server was running Exchange 2003 SP2 with EAS enabled and configured with device password policies. I set up the device password policy on the Exchange server to enforce a password with a minimum of four characters and a 20 minute inactivity timeout. This means that any mobile device connected to Exchange that is idle for 20 minutes will automatically lock and require a password to access the device.
Bug 1 – iPhone does not handle EAS Policies as expected
With Exchange ActiveSync, administrators can configure device password policies. According to Microsoft, the “Inactivity Time” option determines how long the device needs to be inactive before the user is prompted for the password. I first tested my EAS settings against a Windows Mobile Device. The results were as expected, with the device requiring me to set a password and after 20 minutes of inactivity, requiring me to enter my password.
The iPhone behaved differently. First, you need to understand two settings on the iPhone which pertain to passwords: “Auto-Lock” and “Passcode Lock.” “Auto-Lock” sets the amount of time in minutes before the screen locks. The purpose of this is to save battery life by dimming the screen and to prevent accidental pocket dialing. “Passcode Lock” determines the amount of time in minutes after the Auto-Lock sets in, before a password needs to be entered. This can be configured at 1 min., 5 min., 15 min., 1 hour, 4 hours or never.
Upon successfully connecting to EAS, I was required to set a password as expected. After I set up my password, I reviewed the settings on the iPhone and saw that Auto-Lock was set to 5 minutes and Passcode Lock was set to 15 minutes. This appeared to be correct as the total adds up to 20 minutes before requiring a password to be entered. Surprisingly, however, I was able to change the “Passcode Lock” on the iPhone up to a maximum time of 1 hour. I did notice that I could not set the Passcode Lock to 4 hours or never as those options were apparently removed after connecting to EAS. This allowed me to change the Passcode Lock up to a maximum of 1 hour for a total of 65 minutes (5 for the Auto-Lock and 1hr for the Passcode Lock) before requiring a password.
This means in a corporate environment, users are able to override inactivity timeout settings defined by administrators, as the iPhone does not respect the EAS policy. This gives a false sense of security to administrators and they need to be aware of this behavior. If Apple is going to advertise integration with EAS security policies, then they need to ensure the iPhone respects the settings and behaves accordingly.
Bug 2 – Passcode Prompt Reveals Too Much Information
I’m really not
sure how this next bug made it by the quality assurance team, specifically security testing. For this example, let’s assume you set your password to “abc123” and your device gets locked. You are prompted to enter your password with the iPhone keyboard and, as you type, asterisks are displayed across the screen .
This is typical and expected behavior. Note that the input box does not give any indication as to the length of the password or the complexity of the password as you can enter numbers, letters and special characters.
But if you change your password to “1234” or any four-digit numeric password for that matter, from then on you lose the ability to enter any letters or special codes . This reveals two pieces of information about your password: 1) that it consists of only numbers, and 2) the password is only four digits long. From a brute-force perspective that is only 10,000 possible combinations, which would be trivial for any type of offline attack. Knowing this behavior of the iPhone, you may want to consider requiring passwords to require at a minimum both numbers and letters in your EAS policy.
Bug 3 – Changing your iPhone Passcode
This next bug has some similarities to Bug 2. Let’s assume that you realize that your four-digit numeric password is weak and reveals too much information. You decide to change your password from numbers to something alphanumeric. What I discovered is you cannot do this. Once your password is changed to four digits, when you go to change the password, you are only given the option to change it to another four-digit numeric password. On the other hand, if your password is already alphanumeric, you can change it to any length and any combination of numbers, letters and special characters. This is clearly a bug with the iPhone OS.
The workaround to this was to remove the Exchange account from the iPhone and add it back. Upon adding the Exchange account back, I was prompted to enter a new password which allowed me to enter a complex password.
Summary
The iPhone is a great device and is arguably the best mobile device from a usability perspective. Unfortunately, the security features are not quite ready for the enterprise and contain various bugs. In order to safeguard against such bugs, data encryption has to be considered for any type of data protection, but that is another article. Enterprises considering the iPhone for corporate use need to be aware of how the iPhone security features behave and the different ways that data can be breached in the event that the device is lost or stolen.
Source: iPhone Jailbraker
Cisco this week is extending its branch routers and LAN switches in an effort to improve the collaboration capabilities of enterprise customers.
Cisco is enhancing its Integrated Services Routers (ISR) and Catalyst 4500 and 6500 switches with new models, line cards and software to address mobility, sustainability and unified communications (UC) requirements.
Cisco this week is extending its branch routers and LAN switches in an effort to improve the collaboration capabilities of enterprise customers.
Cisco is enhancing its Integrated Services Routers (ISR) and Catalyst 4500 and 6500 switches with new models, line cards and software to address mobility, sustainability and unified communications (UC
) requirements.
Cisco is now supporting High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) on the ISR's 3G Wireless Wide Area Network module. HSPA boosts bandwidth and performance for the module in backup or disaster-recovery applications.
Cisco also says applications from Singlewire Software now run on the ISR's Application Extension Platform (AXP) services module. Singlewire's InformaCast package simultaneously sends an audio stream or text message to multiple IP phones, IP speakers, desktop notification systems and overhead paging systems.
The ISRs also now support the following UC features for collaboration and mobility:
* Cisco Unified SIP Proxy to reduce UC deployment costs.
* Voice signatures on the IP Security Network Module to make voice more secure.
* Mobility and video features on Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express.
* Timecard management capabilities on Cisco Unity Express to improve the productivity of branch employees.
The ISR's EtherSwitch Etnernet switching modules also now support Cisco EnergyWise power efficiency technology to help improve energy utilization in the LAN.
For the Catalyst LAN switches, Cisco unveiled a supervisor module for the Catalyst 4500 series. The 6L-E is intended to bring media collaboration and increased energy efficiency to the wiring closet switches through support for Power over Ethernet (PoE) Plus at 30 watts.
PoE Plus is an extension to the PoE standard for video and wireless access point support.
Cisco also rolled out a 48-port 10/100/1000Mbps line card that enables 30-watt PoE support for devices such as videophones, dual-band wireless access points, building service devices and video surveillance cameras. Cisco says it also extended its Smart Call Home support notification feature and EnergyWise capabilties to the Catalyst 4500.
The Catalyst 4500, and all of Cisco's wiring closet switches, also now have a limited lifetime warranty, Cisco says.
For the Catalyst 6500, Cisco enhanced its use in campus backbones by integrating the virtual switching system (VSS) and service module capabilities of the switch. This lets customers deploy firewall, network analysis module (NAM), and wireless service modules in their VSS campus core, for increased backbone scale and reliability, Cisco says.
New NAM capabilities provide visibility into voice applications, traffic analysis and segmented MPLS networks, Cisco says.
Meanhwhile, Cisco says there's plenty of life left in the Catalyst 6500 even though the company rolled out the next-generation Nexus switch for data center unified fabric applications. The Nexus is optimized for those environments while the Catalyst 6500 will not likely attain FibreChannel over Ethernet (FCoE) unified I/O or lossless Data Center Ethernet capabilities, said Kumar Srikantan, vice president of product management for Cisco's campus switching systems technology group.
But that doesn't mean the 600,000 Catalyst 6500 chassis deployed are due for retirement, Srikantan says. For instance, the current Supervisor 720 with VSS only drives 40Gbps per slot on the system even though the Catalyst 6500 is capable of 80Gbps per slot, he says.
Therefore, one might expect another supervisor engine to emerge soon to drive the Catalyst 6500 to 80Gbps per slot or higher. And given that most supervisor engines have a 10 to 12 year life cycle, according to Srikantan, and the Sup 720 came out in 2003, a new supervisor could extend the life of the Catalyst 6500 by another 10 to 12 years.
"It's the B-52 of switching," Srikantan says of the Catalyst 6500, referring to the venerable U.S. military aircraft.
The Catalyst 6500 should attain EnergyWise power efficiency capabilities in the first half of 2010, Srikantan says.
Pricing for the 890 ISR starts at $1,295. The 1861W ISR starts at $4,295.
The Supervisor 6L-E for the Catalyst 4500 costs $11,995. The 48 port 10/100/1000 PoE Plus linecard costs $7,495. A 6000 watt power supply for the switch costs $4,995. Bundled pricing for the 4506-E and 4503-E is $18,000 and $11,000, respectively.
Cisco IOS Software continues to evolve over time to meet the rapidly changing requirements of the most demanding Enterprise and Service Provider networks. As a family of releases, the feature richness and broad hardware support delivered in Cisco IOS Software is unmatched in the industry.
Table 1 summarizes the latest releases that make up the Cisco IOS Software Family:
Table 1—Cisco IOS Software Family Types and Releases
| Type | Release | Description |
|---|---|---|
| IOS T | Maintenance Release 12.3 Maintenance Release 12.4 | A comprehensive portfolio of Cisco IOS Software technologies and broad hardware adoption for Enterprise, Access, and Commercial networks. Incorporates new software features and hardware introduced in the earlier T release, and additional software fixes. Maintenance releases inherit new Cisco IOS Software functionality and hardware from T releases. This is typically new functionality. Hardware is not introduced in maintenance releases. |
| Release 12.4T | Cisco IOS Software functionality and hardware advances for Security, Voice, and Wireless for Enterprise, Access, and Commercial networks. | |
| IOS S | Release 12.2SB | Cisco IOS Software functionality and hardware for Broadband and Leased-Line Aggregation, and MPLS Provider Edge (PE) on a comprehensive portfolio of mid-range routers for Service Provider edge networks. |
| Release 12.2SX | Cisco IOS Software functionality and hardware for high-end Ethernet LAN switching for Enterprise access, distribution, Core and data center networks. | |
| Release 12.2SE Release 12.2SG | Cisco IOS Software functionality and hardware for mid-range and low-end Ethernet LAN switching for Enterprise access and distribution networks, and mid-range and low-end Metro Ethernet for Service Provider edge networks. | |
| Release 12.2SR | Cisco IOS Software functionality and hardware for high-end Metro Ethernet and MPLS PE for Service Provider edge networks. | |
| IOS XR | Release 3.2 | Cisco IOS XR Software functionality and hardware for the Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System and Cisco XR 12000 Series Routers for Service Provider Core networks. Designed to address the terabit scaling, secure virtualization, high availability, and distributed processing requirements of large IP next-generation networks. |
Table 2 correlates Cisco hardware to the recommended Cisco IOS Software Family release.
Table 2—Cisco IOS Software Family Hardware
| Hardware | Recommended IOS T, IOS S, IOS XR |
|---|---|
| Access and Dial Routers | |
| Cisco 800, 1700, 2600, 2800 Series Routers | 12.4 12.4T |
| Cisco 3700 and 3800 Series Routers | 12.4 12.4T |
| Cisco AS5x50 | 12.4 12.4T |
| Switches | |
| Cisco Catalyst 2970, 3560 and 3750 Series | 12.2SE |
| Cisco Catalyst 4500 and 4900 Series Switch | 12.2SG |
| Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch | 12.2SX |
| Mid-Range Hardware | |
| Cisco 7200 Series and Cisco 7301 Routers | 12.4 12.4T 12.2SB |
| Cisco 7304 Router | 12.2SB |
| Cisco 7500 Series Router | 12.4 12.0S |
| Cisco 10000 Series Router | 12.2SB |
| High-End Hardware | |
| Cisco 7600 Series Internet Router | 12.2SR |
| Cisco 8550 MGX RPM-PR/XF Router | 12.4T |
| Cisco 12000 Series Router | IOS-XR, 12.0S |
| Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System | IOS-XR |