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LAS VEGAS -- A host of new products promising to secure wireless networks and Web services deployments will be on prominent display here this week as the NetWorld+Interop 2003 show kicks off.

N+I highlights networking technologies, bringing together many of the world's biggest technology vendors with representatives from industry, government, and military, according to Key3Media Group, which runs the show.

With the rapid adoption of wireless LAN technology in homes and business, a number of companies are exhibiting products that strengthen the security of wireless LANs, a top concern for attendees at this year's event, according to Key3Media.

Wi-Fi Security Standard

In an announcement with a significant impact on the burgeoning wireless technology industry, the Wi-Fi Alliance said on Thursday that it would use the N+I show in Las Vegas to unveil its latest certification for wireless LAN devices, Wi-Fi Protected Access.

WPA is intended to replace the widely deployed Wired Equivalent Privacy security technology, which was found to have weaknesses that made products using WEP vulnerable to attack.

WPA is a specification covering security features that increase data protection and access control on wireless LANs while ensuring interoperability among different wireless hardware and software, according to the Wi-Fi Alliance. It includes technology borrowed from the as-yet unreleased 802.11i wireless security standard and will be able to run on existing 802.11a and 802.11b hardware as a software upgrade, according to the Alliance.

The group will announce on Tuesday the first products it has certified as WPA-compliant. The first WPA products will be available in May, it said.

Security is a key element of several next-generation wireless LAN offerings at the show, including an integrated firewall, wireless access point, and Ethernet switch from NetGear.

The ProSafe Dual-Band Wireless VPN Firewall features a wide-area network firewall that supports two virtual private network tunnels. It also has an intrusion detection system that can log, report, and send e-mail alerts on attacks. Included in the device is a four-port wired Ethernet switch as well as access points for 802.11a and 802.11b and prestandard 802.11g.

Fortinet Appliances

One vendor squarely focused on content security, Fortinet of Santa Clara, California, says its products also have something to offer network administrators considering WLAN deployment, according to Richard Kagan, vice president of marketing at Fortinet.

At N+I, Fortinet will be announcing two new network security appliances.

The FortiGate 60 is a hardware appliance for small and medium-sized businesses that combines VPN, firewall, and content filtering capabilities with antivirus protection, according to Fortinet.

The device also comes with two USB ports that support USB-enabled wireless LAN access points. Network administrators can plug their access points directly into the FortiGate 60, then use the device's policy management features to set user-level authentication for specific resources or protocols, Kagan said.

The FortiGate 60 starts at $995 with a ten-user license and goes up to $1495 with unlimited licenses for shipments in the U.S.

Security Services

N+I attendees also will find new security service offerings at the show.

Internap Network Services is announcing a managed firewall service based on a Cisco Systems 1700 or 2600 router located on site at a small or medium-sized business. The Atlanta-based Internet service provider, which currently offers Internet access with "guaranteed" quality anywhere in the world, will configure and manage a Cisco Internetwork Operating System software firewall on the router and monitor it from the Internap network operations center, said Keao Caindec, executive director of alliance at Internap.

Internap provides guaranteed Internet quality with technology that lets it monitor all the major Internet backbones, Caindec said. That technology also lets it watch out for traffic patterns that may be anomalies, which helps Internap work with backbone providers to respond to Internet-borne attacks.

For most small and medium-size enterprises, the managed firewall service will cost less than $500 per month, according to Internap.

F-Secure will introduce its hosted security services to ISPs in the U.S. after finding success with them in Europe.

F-Secure PersonalExpress enables ISPs to hand off management of a variety of security services such as antivirus and firewall protection to F-Secure.

The service is offered as a revenue sharing plan, with ISPs offering the PersonalExpress security features to their customers--small businesses and consumers--as a co-branded premium service, while the actual technology resides at F-Secure hosting centers.

Virus and software updates are managed by the Helsinki, Finland company, removing the administrative headache from overburdened ISP technical staff, according to F-Secure.