CASE STUDY

| Communications
OVERVIEW Problem
How to secure the airwaves at multiple locations

BRITISH TELECOM SECURES ITS WIRELESS AIRWAVES

Customer Description BT is one of the worlds leading providers of communications solutions serving customers in Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. Its principal activities include networked IT services, local, national and international telecommunications services, and higher-value broadband and internet products and services. In the UK, BT serves more than 20 million business and residential customers with more than 30 million exchange lines, as well as providing network services to other licensed operators. BT is known internationally as a major technology player pioneering the digital advances that are shaping and driving the information age. Problem BTs employees are highly mobile and needed the flexibility to work securely at multiple locations. Hot desking to give employees access to the companys network was tried but was difficult, expensive and impractical. Wireless technology was generally agreed to be the most beneficial solution and with this came they need to establish the best of breed security for the wireless infrastructure. Employees had laptops and other wireless enabled devices and needed to access email, customer records, and other work applications at multiple locations. The need to do this securely was imperative in the solution BT chose. BT has multiple sites some of which are located in the heart of city centers and many offices could detect more than 30 other Wireless LANs. This meant that a complete site survey had to be carried out at each location to understand what the complexities were and how many wireless networks actually invaded BTs airspace. At some sites in central London, the initial survey detected that at regular intervals alarms might be raised from the automated bus stop updates. This type of traffic, while not a threat could create multiple security alarms. Other locations in more rural settings provided different problems of distance between buildings and large communal areas. The risks for BT as an organization and the implications for its management team if the solution they chose was not scalable were immense. The problem of partitioning friendly neighboring wireless LANs from those that could present a malicious threat was essential. The threats to any wireless deployment are rogue or unauthorized access so the problem for BT was to be able to analyse existing and zero day threats in real-time against historical data to accurately detect all attacks and anomalous behavior originating inside or outside the organization. Doing this while providing IT support for over 60,000 workers seamlessly and without increasing IT management time was seen to be essential. Requirements BT needed a solution that could detect intruders and rogue access points automatically and secure their airwaves cost effectively. It needed a solution that could distinguish between the multiple legitimate neighbouring wireless networks and those that were malicious. In addition it needed to be able to terminate wireless connections between an intruder and an authorized access point and also to terminate authorized devices with rogue access points. Most particularly it required the vendor it chose to be able to enforce the BT security policy to all its mobile workforce without disrupting its business. The solution had to work with the Cisco based network infrastructure.

Requirements Solution Benefits

A monitoring solution that could detect all wireless traffic at multiple locations and enforce the companys security policies. AirDefense Enterprise

Increased workforce productivity Rogue access point detection Performance trouble shooting and intrusion detection.

AirDefense means I can monitor the good, the bad and the ugly using our wireless network
- Michael Malcolm Senior Solutions Integration Manager

For more information regarding AirDefense products, contact AirDefense at 1-770-663-8115 or www.airdefense.net

CASE STUDY

| Communications

Solution BT evaluated several Wireless LAN security products before deciding which one to purchase. The evaluation process was exacting. Michael Malcolm RF Manager at BT said I was a sceptic. I was not going to allow wireless connectivity at BT unless I was convinced that it could be provided securely. The evaluation and testing process was extremely rigorous and thorough. The site surveys were completed using AirDefense Architect which provides complete design and simulation of wireless LANs based on building-specific environments. This product accurately and predictively helped design the Wireless networks (802.11) before the actual deployment of access points, sensors and other wireless devices. For the deployment BT chose to use AirDefense Enterprise provided through a specialist solutions provider in the UK called Pentura. They have currently deployed sensors in 15 of 21 sites in the UK and plan to roll out the solution across European offices. The AirDefense system helps BT to: Increase the productivity of its workforce Define, enforce and measure adherence to their security policy Continuously monitor the WLAN providing maximum security and operational integrity of the network Ensure BT employees are not logging onto rogue or neighbouring networks Confirm wireless devices are within permitted areas. About AirDefense, Inc. AirDefense, the market leader in anywhere, anytime wireless security and monitoring, is trusted by more Fortune 500 companies, healthcare organizations and high-security government agencies for enterprise wireless protection. AirDefense products provide the most advanced solutions for rogue wireless detection, policy enforcement and intrusion prevention, both inside and outside an organizations physical locations and wired networks. Common Criteria-certified, AirDefense enterprise-class products scale to support single offices as well as organizations with hundreds of locations around the globe. Founded in 2001, AirDefense is based in Alpharetta, GA, and serves hundreds of government agencies and blue chip corporations.

RESULTS

Deploying AirDefense at BT has meant: Increased productivity in BTs workforce Compliance with internal security policy Identification and elimination of rogue access points Knowledge of interference from neighbouring networks Increase in demand for wireless applications and continued expansion of wireless network

Its essential for the highly mobile and agile BT workforce to have anywhere, anytime, any place connectivity. AirDefense ensures they can securely; meaning the BT workforce has flexibility and is highly productive
- Ray Stanton Global Head of Division Continuity, Security and Governance Practice

AirDefense Dashboard

AirDefense Alarm Manager

For more information regarding AirDefense products, contact AirDefense at 1-770-663-8115 or www.airdefense.net