With an unsustainable number of local and local-to-wide area networking equipment manufacturer rushing to market with what seem to the eye of the untrained user like identical products, those manufacturers are burning the midnight oil trying to devise features that will differentiate their super-product from those made by everyone else. According to Santa Clara, California-based 3Com Corp’s public relations folk, the company has just come up with a revolutionary hub security solution. Does this mean that hackers will be whirled around until their heads explode? No such luck unfortunately. The announcement refers to the infinitely less appealing LAN Security Architecture, launched at Networld. 3Com has developed a system based on an Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC, which scrambles or over-writes data travelling to network devices other than the intended receiver. Details from the company as to how it works are thin on the ground since the patents are still in the application phase. However, it says that the technology can be used to create closed user groups and automatically disconnect unauthorised users. All of this is made possible by the secure repeater chip which slots into Linkbuilder ECS hub cards. Moreover, the company claims that the whole system can be installed transparently, leaving users unaware of any changes. Available soon, it will cost around $60 per port.
