Interworks and Bluesocket supply University of Michigan with wireless security

AUBURN HILLS, MICHIGAN and BURLINGTON, MASS ? January 26, 2004 --
Interworks Technology and Bluesocket today announced that the University of Michigan is implementing Bluesocket's wireless gateways to provide Wi-Fi security and management across a number of schools on its Ann Arbor campus.

The University of Michigan is tasked with meeting the diverse IT security needs of its many schools and 80,000 students, staff and faculty members. The university's network infrastructure connects more than 200 departmental LANs on three geographically dispersed campuses spanning 3177 acres and 538 major buildings (including 24 libraries).

As it supports many methods of validating and authenticating users (as they log onto the University's network for network access), the U-M Information Technology Communications department was looking to consolidate their authorization process to a single interface for access to its campus-wide Wi-Fi network.

Although individual schools and colleges at the University of Michigan still retained the capability of implementing additional or separate wireless security technologies, it was critical for the University to select a single solution so that the individual schools could implement with a high degree of consistency across the campus while providing the levels of security and control that are absolutely fundamental to operating the network.

The University of Michigan looked at a broad set of solutions and selected Bluesocket for its ability to support and extend its large prior investment in Cisco [NASDAQ: CSCO] security and infrastructure while complementing other security methods and infrastructures that have grown up across the campus over the years.

"More than 200 universities and campuses worldwide have been Bluesocketed," said Patrick Rafter, vice president of communications, Bluesocket, Inc. "We are proud to be working closely with our partners at Interworks and Cisco to ensure that Wi-Fi at the University of Michigan is well managed, secure and flexible in order to support a wide range of new mobile devices (PDAs, laptops, and digital mobile phones), as well as operating systems and network infrastructures."

"The selection of Bluesocket works toward the University's objective of providing the capability for authorized users to easily access the University's network with whichever mobile device they choose, from anywhere wireless access is provided on the University's campus," said Caston Thomas, president of Interworks and the systems integrator of the Wi-Fi campus deployment.

All schools and campus organizations will have access to Bluesocket's technology along with implementation and support services from the University of Michigan's Information Technology Central Services organization. Several years ago, the University had the foresight to form a technology committee of representatives from across the campus to address wireless technology issues.

About Interworks Technology

Interworks Technology provides mobile applications and wireless infrastructures that are reliable, secure and manageable. Interworks was founded in 1996 and is located in Auburn Hills, MI. For more information, visit http://www.iworkstech.com.

About Bluesocket

Bluesocket, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of systems to control and secure wireless local area networks (WLANs) for enterprises in more than 40 countries worldwide. Thousands of Bluesocket Wireless Gateways are deployed by organizations including the National Security Agency, Lehman Brothers, Scripps Healthcare, Harvard University and others who require elegant open-systems solutions to secure, manage, and profit from their WLANs. Bluesocket, Inc. is a private, global corporation managed by networking industry veterans. For more information, visit http://www.bluesocket.com.

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