wireless security essays

wireless security essays This paper represents the security issues related to the use of wireless (vs wired) LAN technology and recommends a number of key implementation guidelines to ensure the secure deployment of wireless LAN services in the company. As the primary differences between a wired LAN and a wireless LAN are at the Physical (PHY) and Media Access Control (MAC) layers, we have therefore limited the scope of this paper to addressing those security concerns related to the use of the wireless medium. The scope of this paper is also restricted to the IEEE 802.11b standard despite there being other similar but less widely adopted competing standards including HIPERLAN (Europe) and OpenAir 2.4 (US). In 1997, the first internationally sanctioned wireless LAN standard, 802.11 was approved by IEEE. This standard proposed three type of implementation for the physical layer (OSI layers) which is: Infrared (IR) pulse position modulation Radio frequency (RF) signalling in the 2.4 GHz band using frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) Radio frequency (RF) signalling in the 2.4 GHz band using direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) The IR method was not commercially implemented while the RF method suffers from low transmission speeds (2 Mbps). Further developments were made on the original 2.4 GHz band, using more sophisticated spectrum technologies. The 802.11b standard was established in 1999, which was able to deliver raw data rates up to 11 Mbps, was widely adopted in the commercial market. A wireless LAN extends the limited reach of traditional wired networks inside a building or office by enabling network communication to occur over the air as shown in Figure 1. In the office environment, a wireless network offers end-users the benefits of increased mobility and increased productivity, because it enables mobile users to access information and network resources as they attend meetings, collaborate with other users, or move ...