Fortress Technologies’ ES520 Earns Critical FIPS 140-2 Level 2 Certification

Fortress Technologies, a leading provider of secure wireless networking, today announced that its ES520 Secure Wireless Access Bridges earned a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 level 2 certificate (Cert. #756) from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Coming on the heels of WiFi Alliance Certification, Fortress’ ES520 was put through rigorous testing by an accredited independent lab and reviewed by NIST, ensuring they satisfy the government’s high standards for use within agency networks.



“In order for national defense and emergency response organizations to trust the security of their communication solution, products must maintain industry-leading certifications and have passed stringent third party testing,” said John Dow, Vice President, Business Development and Marketing at Fortress. “Fortress is dedicated to providing government agencies with reliable and certified wireless solutions – enabling them to react faster and more effectively – in getting the right information to the right people in the least amount of time.”



The Fortress ES520 provides wireless infrastructure for mission-critical communications across fixed, portable and mobile environments – offering immediate “on-demand” secure voice, video and data capabilities. The ES520 enables organizations to rapidly establish a high-performance wireless mesh network by combining the functions of an access point, switch, wireless bridge and security gateway in a form factor engineered specifically for harsh outdoor environments. These capabilities enable government agents, officers and soldiers to establish lines of communications in areas with no available infrastructure.



The ES520 incorporates a robust security architecture which includes WPA2 (802.11i) and 802.1x along with value added enhancements such as AES 256 Layer 2 encryption and MultiFactor Authentication™. The ES520 is complemented by industry-leading device interoperability with the broadest range of FIPS-validated Secure Client support available. Furthermore, Fortress has demonstrated both Suite B and WIDS modules which will be generally available later this quarter.



“The ES520 is ideally suited to deliver secure communications for tactical edge communications, incident response and campus or municipal mesh,” said Dow. “Fortress has significant past performance in assisting the government with these initiatives and looks forward to our continued partnerships.”



FIPS is a set of standards that describe document processing, provide standard algorithms for searching and provide other information processing standards for security modules used to protect government networks. For more information regarding NIST and FIPS, or to view the Fortress certificate, visit: http://www.nist.gov or http://csrc.nist.gov/cryptval/140-1/1401val2007.htm.



As a leader in secure wireless for government, Fortress is hosting the Symposium on Secure Wireless Networking in Mission-Critical Environments, taking place Thursday, April 26 in Washington, DC. For more information or to register, please visit: http://www.fortresstech.com/news/featured_news.asp?id=5.