CANBERRA, Australia - March 2, 2004 - The Federal Department of Employment and Workplace Resources (DEWR) has selected Cisco Systems® infrastructure to create the largest, secure, wireless local-area network in Australia. The new network, deployed by IBM, will help reduce operating expenses and create a more flexible, Web-based environment for job seekers.

DEWR provides job seekers with access to its Australian Job Search Express portal (www.jobsearch.gov.au). The portal can be accessed by job seekers at any of the 3000 Australian designed and built Pathfinder kiosks, which are located in more than 950 Job Network member agencies and 320 Centrelink offices across Australia.

The deployment of a Cisco® Aironet® 1100 Series wireless access point at each site will reduce infrastructure costs because each kiosk is connected to DEWR's network, at speeds of up to 11 megabits per second (Mbps), by wireless technology, rather than through traditional cabling.

DEWR Communications and IT Security Manager Ian Rose said; "The wireless technology is more economical to install and maintain than cabling, and the kiosks are easier to move than in a cabled environment."

The solution will allow DEWR to provide the same level of security and reliability as a wired LAN. To help ensure that the new network is as secure as a traditional wired environment, DEWR and IBM have deployed the SAFE Blueprint from Cisco for security and virtual private networks (VPNs).

SAFE allows DEWR to create a multilayered security system, including VPN, wireless Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) encryption, firewall, and Internet Protocol (IP) Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES) algorithm encryption, which enables up to 5000 encrypted tunnels for concurrent sessions across multiple sites.

Cisco managing director for Australia and New Zealand, Ross Fowler, said;"Cisco takes a proactive approach to the management of security across networks. We worked with DEWR and IBM to provide them with a network wide security solution. Single-product solutions are no longer enough to adequately secure networks."

According to David Watt, IBM's Federal Government Manager, IBM is responsible for the new wireless network's configuration, country-wide installation and on-going support. "IBM is working closely with DEWR and Cisco to ensure the new network meets the business and security requirements of the Australian Job Search Express portal. Designed to provide job seekers with a secure and reliable Internet experience, the wireless network delivers DEWR an efficient and flexible solution with great potential in terms of cost and resiliency," Mr Watt said.

The DEWR network is based on the deployment of 1270 Cisco Aironet 1100 Series access points, which provide high-speed access to the Internet on the 802.11b standard, as specified by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Each office is connected to the Telstra Private IP backbone by a Cisco 1721 Router. The data centre also uses Cisco PIS ® firewalls, Cisco VPN 3000 concentrators and Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS) authentication servers.