AirDefense Offers No-Cost Download of AirDefense Personal 1.0 Lite

ATLANTA, January 24, 2005 - AirDefense, the leader in anytime, anywhere wireless intrusion protection, today announced that its customers are already protected against the newly announced "Evil Twin" attack and its variants. Due to the broader audience concern, AirDefense is now offering a free download of the AirDefense Personal 1.0 Lite to protect users from wireless-specific vulnerabilities while accessing hotspots. The download is available at http://www.airdefense.net/products/adpersonal/.

"Evil Twin," the wireless version of email phishing scams, is a technique whereby an attacker tricks victims into connecting to a laptop or PDA by posing as a legitimate hotspot. Once the victim has connected to the illegitimate hotspot, the attacker coerces the user into revealing personal and confidential information that can be used for the purposes of identity theft or other illegal activities. Information such as credit card details, passwords and pin numbers are highly vulnerable.

"The 'Evil Twin' attack is an example of the increasing sophistication of wireless attacks," said Richard Rushing, chief security officer of AirDefense. "People are lulled into a false sense of security with personal firewalls. However, wireless attacks such as 'Evil Twin,' wireless phishing and AirSnarfing cannot be seen by personal firewalls."

The freedom of wireless has provided users enhanced mobility, efficiency and productivity. However, as the "Evil Twin" attack demonstrates, wireless has also spawned the threat of hackers exploiting wireless vulnerabilities at local public wireless networks called hotspots.

"The issue of end-user protection at hotspots and other unsecured wireless networks is a growing concern for security and IT professionals," said Anil Khatod, president and CEO of AirDefense. "Customers have traditionally focused only on preventing unauthorized access to their corporate wireless networks. Now, customers are asking how to defend their mobile wireless workforce. In response to these customer needs, AirDefense is leading the industry by expanding enterprise protection to the mobile employee."

The AirDefense Personal product represents the industry's first and only end-user software agent to protect users of hotspots and other cleartext networks from wireless-specific risks that could expose private data and transactions. AirDefense Personal offers protection from a broad and growing set of new wireless risks that directly target vulnerable users.

Free Wireless Protection
AirDefense will offer the Lite version of its Personal product at no charge. AirDefense Personal Lite includes 13 wireless-specific alarms, including if a wireless connection is being formed or if a laptop is being redirected to an unintended access point, connected to a non-preferred or unsecured access point. AirDefense Personal runs on Windows XP and is designed to compliment a third party firewall.

In addition to AirDefense Personal, AirDefense recommends users make sure their laptops are up-to-date with the latest security patches. AirDefense also advises users to only enter passwords and other personal information into websites that are protected by SSL and turn off wireless cards and Bluetooth radios if they are not actively in use.

For maximum protection, organizations should implement AirDefense Enterprise, the industry's first Self-Managing™ intrusion prevention system (IPS) providing automated protection for wireless threats. AirDefense Personal works with AirDefense Enterprise. The combined solution enables organizations to efficiently protect enterprise information assets automatically from over 200 threats at anytime, both within the four walls of the enterprise and at any location offering wireless service.

About AirDefense, Inc.
AirDefense is the market leader in anywhere, anytime wireless security and monitoring. The company's products provide the most advanced solutions for rogue wireless detection, policy enforcement and intrusion protection both inside and outside an organization's four walls. AirDefense's enterprise-class products scale to support everything from single offices to organizations with hundreds of locations. Founded in 2001, AirDefense is based in Alpharetta, GA and services hundreds of government agencies and blue chip corporations. For more information, please visit http://www.airdefense.net or call 770.663.8115.

Contact:
Heidi Litner
AirDefense, Inc.
770-663-8115 x:110
hlitner@airdefense.net