Alcatel-Lucent Improves Switch Security

Alcatel-Lucent is rolling out a more secure operating system version for its OmniSwitch family of LAN switches. The 6.3.4 release boosts guest and imployee access security with the inclusion of CyberGatekeeper from InfoExpress, which checks client machines for health and policy compliance.

“IT departments want and need security solutions that are effective and easy to deploy,” Michael Emelianoff, vice president of enterprise security solutions for Alcatel-Lucent, said in a statement.

InfoExpress’ CyberGatekeeper Host Integrity Check Module checks on the health and compliance of connecting endpoints, and sends noncompliant endpoint devices to a remediation network. User profiles are mapped to network and security policies, and administrators can base user profiles on the role an employee or guest has within the company, giving them appropriate access to the network, application and bandwidth.

A Web-based captive portal grabs packets for a non-authenticated user and sends it to a predefined Web page that asks the user to provide authentication credentials before they’re allowed onto the network.

The revised OS also improves network availability, performance and uptime, including compliance with the ITU-T G.8032 standard for Ethernet Ring Protection, data path redundancy and recovery times of less than 50 milliseconds for Ethernet ring topologies, according to company officials.

Jeffrey Burt, eWEEK.com, contributed to this article.