Wi-Fi Security

Wired networks have always been advantageous in that they are fast, stable, and provide a hard-lined connection to the network. Unfortunately, wired networks restrict the user’s mobility throughout the office. In addition, it is very difficult to deploy new users ... [full story]

Conclusion: All Vendors Must Get Along! Wireless networking has truly become part of the corporate infrastructure. In almost every application or business unit, wireless networking has become integral to what we do and how we work. The biggest problem ... [full story]

To better understand how vendors provide cross-platform solutions, wecan study the types of solutions that are offered today. Proxim and Cisco represent a large number of WLAN products that are very well known for healthcare and manufacturing solutions. These products ... [full story]

Windows XP has a variety of features and functionality when it comes to supporting 802.11. For example, it supports automatic network detection and association. This is useful for wireless NICs, since the operating system can tell them to use a ... [full story]

When you have several access points set up to use the same WEP key, each will implement added optimization routines so that the wireless NIC will try to execute 802.11 authentication using the WEP key received from the original access ... [full story]

In an effort to provide its latest version of Windows with the ability to deal seamlessly with wireless networking capabilities, Microsoft has worked with a number of companies that are within the IEEE standards groups to define a “port-based network ... [full story]

The most prevalent security issues having serious implications for crossplatform wireless computing involve key problems that have universal significance. There is no per-packet authentication method per se that allows you to determine the source of a specific packet coming into ... [full story]

Due to the small size of the IV in combination with the long-term key reuse that is so prevalent today, hackers can easily create a table of both IVs and key streams, adding to this table for every single packet ... [full story]

When the hacker knows the actual structure of your encrypted packet, such as the header field, he can send “evil” packets into your network to change commands, spoof addresses, and perform many other tasks. Encrypted packets have an integrity check ... [full story]

Key reuse constitutes a problem because keys can be compromised andused as a form of attack against your wireless system. These types ofattacks do require about 6 million packets in order to determine theWEP key in a reasonably short amount ... [full story]

Since there have been noted problems with WEP, security concerns dealexplicitly with items like initialization vector (IV) collisions. The problemlies with how the RC4 IV is employed to create the keys used todrive a pseudorandom number generator used to encrypt ... [full story]

Cross-platform Wireless Security Concerns Wireless networking support was added as a core offering within the Windows XP Operating System. As 802.11 has seen enormous growth in many wireless network deployments, it is actually the lack of a WEP key ... [full story]

The security ramifications of handheld devices are both good and bad. The good side of these devices is that they are light, easy to carry, and have just enough processing power to enable you to access your information needs wirelessly ... [full story]

Orinoco Wireless produces a wireless NIC that works on almost everyplatform. The reason I mention this particular card is that this is one ofthe few companies to offer support for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Novell,and Windows CE. This card is an ... [full story]

Lindows OS, not to be confused with Microsoft in any way, shape, or form, is an interesting operating system offering. It is essentially a standard Linux platform with the ability to execute certain Windows applications. It is somewhat similar to ... [full story]

Most Macintosh WLANs are built to be compatible with one another; however this is not the case for every product. Some products, even those built by the same vendor, may not interface with each other correctly. This is why, before ... [full story]

Both PC and Macintosh computer prices have dropped significantly over the past few years, although one cost that has remained the same involves the deployment of the actual wired infrastructure for a LAN. That is a fixed cost no matter ... [full story]

The WLAN industry is growing by a factor of billions for everythingfrom retail to healthcare. Among all these applications, fixed wiredinstallations are not practical because of the nature of the job. Workersmust be able to have constant access to their ... [full story]

This site makes a detailed comparison of the wireless user securitypresent in Windows, Macintosh, Palm, and PocketPC. It then describesa key weakness in any effective network security program—the usersthemselves. Studies consistently prove that the biggest security threatis from people inside ... [full story]

Conclusion: Next-generation Wireless Equipment WLANs are becoming more than practical; they are becoming an ingredient essential to your communications needs. The combination of handheld PDAs and wireless connectivity is important for larger and more diverse companies to maintain ... [full story]

Some companies originally placed severe bans on the use of any wirelessLAN equipment because there was so much risk associated with usingthese devices. When WLAN equipment was first produced, there were somany problems that almost anyone could gain access; these ... [full story]

Wired LANs are much harder to compromise in terms of security because a hacker must physically connect to the network wiring in order to gain unauthorized access into the LAN. This means the hacker has to be inside the building ... [full story]

Security has different types of costs that can both positively and negatively affect your organization. Security used always to be considered “negative” as most companies would say something like, “Oh no! We can’t have a security audit, because that would ... [full story]

Although WLAN equipment is initially more costly than wired LANs, you can actually save money when taking into consideration implementation costs for deploying LAN cables. There are several mission-critical factors you need to be aware of when you are contemplating ... [full story]

One way to focus the transmissions of your wireless network so that youincrease the range of your WLAN for employees but not for hackers is toimplement directional antenna areas that enhance the coverage of yourWLAN between corporate sites without sending ... [full story]

At times, it may be necessary to increase the coverage area for your WLAN. When you design your network, you can enhance your secure coverage areas by adding extension points that increase range to specific areas where employees will roam ... [full story]

Wireless laptop users will require more bandwidth because they are runningfull Internet applications on a more diverse platform. Mobile PDAor PocketPC users will normally not require as much bandwidth, simplybecause of the limitations of these devices in supporting rich multimediaapplications. ... [full story]

The most commonly used wireless setup involves one access point and several 802.11a/b clients. When you install an access point, you enhance the range of your network. The access point functions as your wireless server, freeing up the resources of ... [full story]

The concept of the WLAN has changed significantly in just the past few years alone. At first, wireless networks were used only to transfer small amounts of information from one department to another. There was no unified standard, so hardware ... [full story]

When discussing trends in Wi-Fi equipment, it is important to detailhow we got to this state in the marketplace. Standards such as HomeRFhave become somewhat obsolete when compared to either 802.11 orBluetooth. As much as Bluetooth has a good market ... [full story]

The 802.11 wireless standard went through a radical transformation inearly 2000 as the standard increased its throughput from 2 to 11 Mbps.This made the wireless standard, at the very least, competitive with theold 10-Mbps wired Ethernetwork. It was at this ... [full story]

Wi-Fi equipment vendors are governed by several factors that dictate how the products we buy evolve with respect to our growing list of mobile applications. In order more fully to understand how these considerations apply, it is important to look ... [full story]