Building a fiber fortress

As optical networks gradually gain acceptance for their ability to provide high bandwidth, the required networking equipment will have to incorporate proper security technology.

At this month's Homeland Security Summit and Exposition in Washington, Lynx Photonic Networks Inc., Calabasas Hills, Calif., debuted a pair of photonic switches that the company said will help protect fiber-optic networks.

The LightLeader 3274 incorporates intrusion detection technology that can identify a security breach, notify the network administrator and either shut down the path or re-route network traffic.

The LightLeader 3271 lets agencies tap into fiber-optic lines to monitor network traffic regardless of data rate, format or protocol.