A 3Com division will beef up Internet security for Emirates Airlines, one of the fastest-growing air carriers in the Middle East.

TippingPoint in Austin, Texas, will deploy an array of its Intrusion Prevention System line as a defensive line against viruses and hacker intrusions.

The upgrades will safeguard both the airline's public Internet as well as communications with aircraft and airports in the region.

"Aviation security is too critical to rely only on traditional security solutions such as firewalls and anti-virus software," said Laserian Kelly, manager of information security for the Emirates Group. "Our industry demands extremely robust precautions to stop hackers and other threats from impacting systems that support services and scheduling."

The TippingPoint system inspects incoming Internet traffic and also quickly creates patches and filter upgrades to address new threats to operating systems.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International