Via Wireless Week

With the popularity of Bluetooth soaring, Network Chemistry is offering some protection. The RF security and management solutions company introduced BlueScanner, which is designed to detect Bluetooth security vulnerabilities.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group indicates there will be roughly 500 million Bluetooth devices in the world by the end of 2005, with more than 5 million shipping a week. “Just like Wi-Fi 5 years ago, people are not aware of the vulnerabilities,” Brian de Haaff, Network Chemistry’s vice president of product management and marketing, tells Wireless Week. “Organizations need to wake up to the threat Bluetooth poses.”

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The software-based BlueScanner assessment tool can be downloaded onto a laptop and is designed to identify Bluetooth devices, their type and the services they offer, which according to the company, makes it easier for IT staffers to assess a security risk.

BlueScanner works with Microsoft’s Windows XP Bluetooth protocol stack and will identify devices within range, without authenticating them. The tool enables filtering by location, manufacturer and service available, de Haaff says.

“We are making BlueScanner available to the technical community at no cost. We believe as wireless security experts, we have a responsibility to raise the level of awareness of these problems,” says de Haaff.