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May 21, 2010
• Vol.32 Issue 11
Page(s) 31 in print issue
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Remote Connections For Rugged Environments
Fortress Technologies Pushes Wireless LANs Out The Door
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 Wireless LANs aren’t just useful in the office, home, and coffee shop; in the field, where running Ethernet cabling is difficult or simply not possible, they’re even more useful. For many civilian and military agencies, the success of an operation today may hinge on having local connectivity, along with backhaul to the Internet and/or the organization’s main servers.
Fortress Technologies (www.fortresstech.com) is one company offering ruggedized secure wireless LAN/backhaul solutions for deployable networks, outdoor network extensions, and vehicle-based networks, and its Secure Wireless Bridges provide FIPS-validated secure voice, video, and data service.
Fortress products can be found in demanding global environments providing disaster recovery and continuity of operations, perimeter and border security, deployable communications, outdoor wireless networks, wireless sensor networks, wireless video surveillance, and vehicle networks. Jeff Bradbury is vice president of marketing at Fortress.
 What are the biggest IT-related issues facing today’s small to midsized enterprise?
“Security for your data,” says Bradbury. “You have to ensure that data is accurate, timely, and free from outside interference and manipulation in the course of moving it from the enterprise systems to the users and back; [that your] information is accessed only by the appropriate people and for the appropriate elements and hasn’t been tampered with; and that only authorized parties have made any changes or additions.”
This is more important—and challenging—than ever, says Bradbury, due to the growth of rules and regulations, the sophistication of tools available to malefactors, and the use of cloud services outside organizations’ network perimeters.
What should Processor readers know about your company’s products?
Fortress Technologies’ products are designed for use in military vehicles, police cruisers, service trucks, and mobile command vehicles and can be found everywhere from emergency response and relief workers for hurricanes, earthquakes, and natural disasters to land, sea, and air battle environments.
“Our products are used in several National Guard units, including Texas, where we were used extensively in the kits for response to Hurricane Rita,” says Bradbury. “They surged into the disaster areas and used our devices to set up the command center.”
Fortress’ products include its Secure Wireless Bridge, Tactical Mesh Point, Infrastructure Mesh Point, FastPath Mesh, Vehicle Mesh Point, Security Controllers, and Secure Clients.
“We sell wireless devices specifically designed for DoD and emergency responder environments,” says Bradbury. “The form factors we produce are specifically created to serve these users and come with integrated security able to meet these users’ needs.”
Fortress’ most popular product is the Fortress ES520 Secure Wireless Bridge, according to Bradbury. “The ES520 is our Swiss Army Knife solution,” he says. “People like it for emergency kits, along with a tripod and small Cisco switch into a 40- to 50-pound case. The National Guard, Army, and Marine Corps all use them. It has a built-in eight-port Ethernet switch, so you can run a command post off it. It gives 50Mbps through two radios—enough for several video conferences or [to] run a robust operations center—and it weighs under 7 pounds [and] can go anywhere with you.”
What makes your company unique?
“We design, specify, and manufacture all our products ourselves, in the United States, to ensure we can control the manufacturing process and supply chain,” Bradbury says. “This allows us to own nearly all of the IP that goes into making our products and allows us to outperform those other competitors that are limited to using off-the-shelf parts. Additionally, by operating this way, we can ensure our product does not contain any corrupted components that might offer a way for adversaries to attack the systems and users we support.”
by Daniel P. Dern
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