Microsoft has announced its
forthcoming Windows XP operating system will support an enhanced wireless
security standard. The company says that the new OS will make it easier and
safer for PCs, laptops and handheld devices to connect to the Web
wirelessly.
Cisco Systems, 3Com, Compaq Computers, IBM, Dell Computers, and Intel are
supporting the new standard, also called 802.1x.
Industry analysts are saying that Microsoft Windows XP addresses some of
the security issues that UC-Berkeley computer scientists found in wireless
networks based on the wireless standard Wi-Fi or 802.11b, according to The
New York Times.
Back in February university researchers found security holes in wireless
networks that could let hackers intercept and alter transmission passing
through networks.
The Microsoft Windows XP OS enables individuals with laptops to get a
different password every time they connect to a wireless network rather than
using just one password, which was manually inputted by an IT administrator,
making the connections secure, said Bill Rossi, vice president and general
manager of Cisco wireless networking operations. Mobile workers can use the
same password across multiple access points throughout their workplace.
Tom Laemmel, product manager for Windows at Microsoft, told The New York
Times, "If you were using a notebook at work and went to the airport,
it wouldn’t automatically think you were back at the office. It
offers hands-off configuration to connect up to wireless networks."
Microsoft will begin shipping Windows XP during the second half of this
year.
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