User's Guide

Platform Health Alarms
Platform Health Alarms alert you to events that provide information about the state of the AirDefense
Services Platform and the Sensors which report back to the appliance. Platform Health Alarms are
broken down into the following three sub-types:
• License Manager - License events provide information about the features and functionality in the
AirDefense that require a license to operate.
• Platform - Platform events provide operational and health information about the AirDefense
appliance.
•
Sensor - Sensor events provide operation and health information about the Sensors that are
reporting back to the AirDefense appliance.
Alarm Library
To view a list of Platform Health Alarms for each alarm sub-type, go to Configuration > Operational
Management > Alarm Configuration, open Platform Health, and then open the alarm sub-type to see
all the alarms associated with the sub-type.
Policy Compliance Alarms
Policy Compliance Alarms alert you to events that provide information about the observed operational
configuration compared to the configured configuration. Policy discrepancies which are found allow
configuration vulnerabilities to be corrected before they could be exploited. Sanctioned configuration
problems account for a significant percentage of security vulnerabilities in any organization. Policy
configuration problems typically result in significant security issues and should be addressed in a timely
manner. Policy Compliance Alarms are broken down into the following eight sub-types:
• 802.11 Encryption - 802.11 Wireless networks operate in a shared medium; all devices within the
range of the transmission can passively hear the sender. Encryption is implemented in wireless
networks to allow for secure transmission of data, and to prevent eavesdroppers from reading the
contents. ADSP monitors the authorized APs to ensure that the defined encryption mechanisms are
always used and the network operates in compliance with the enterprise policy.
• Advanced Key Generation - 802.1x Authentication provides a mechanism to authenticate a user
and/or computer against a network and generate the keys necessary to encrypt data; if required, the
keys can be changed dynamically. ADSP monitors the authorized APs to ensure that the defined
advanced key generation mechanisms are always used and the network operates in compliance with
the enterprise policy.
• AirDefense Personal Policy Violation - AirDefense Personal is a client product designed to monitor
the edge of the network. The edge of the network is defined by the mobile work force and their
laptops that travel throughout the world to airports, hotspots, hotels, etc. As mobile workers travel
they have confidential and proprietary corporate data to protect and can access the corporate
network through a VPN (Virtual Private Network). User stations typically present the weakest
security link to a malicious users. AirDefense Personal ensures that the enterprise policy is enforced
any where, any time the client is using mobile resources, even when it is outside of the range of
ADSP monitoring Sensors.
• Authentication - ADSP monitors 802.11 authentication as defined in the company policy against
what has been observed in the air, allowing for notification of enterprise compliance policy
violations.
• Environment - Environmental events allow for monitoring of generic operation wireless network
activities. These events could have an impact on enterprise compliance, security and performance
requirements.
Legacy Content
Operational Management
Extreme AirDefense User Guide for version 10.5. 1161