In 1999 the IEEE completed and approved the standard known as 802.11b, and WLANs were born. Finally, computer networks could achieve connectivity with a useable amount of bandwidth without being networked via a wall socket. Suddenly connecting multiple computers in a house to share an Internet connection or play LAN games no longer required expensive or ugly cabling. Business users could get up out of their chairs and sit in the sunshine while they worked. New generations of handheld devices allowed users access to stored data as they walked down the hall to a meeting. The dawn of networking elegance was upon us. Users could set their laptops down anywhere and instantly be granted access to all networking resources. This was, and is, the vision of wireless networks, and what they are capable of delivering.

Fast forward to today. While wireless networks have seen widespread adoption in the home user markets, widely reported and easily exploited holes in the standard security system have stunted wireless' deployment rate in enterprise environments. While many people don't know exactly what the weaknesses are, most have accepted the prevailing wisdom that wireless networks are inherently insecure and nothing can be done about it. Can wireless networks be deployed securely today? What exactly are the security holes in the current standard, and how do they work? Where is wireless security headed in the future? This article attempts to shed light on these questions and others about wireless networking security in an enterprise environment.

[ Read more ]

Related items

• News: A map of wireless controversy? (21 August 2002)
• News: Wireless hackers take to the air (19 August 2002)
• News: Wireless Security and Hacking (19 August 2002)
• News: Secure wireless workers (16 August 2002)
• News: Advancing Wireless LAN Security (8 August 2002)
• News: Wireless Security: An IP VPN Conspiracy Theory (5 August 2002)
• News: Wi Fi Honeypots a new hacker trap (29 July 2002)
• News: Hackers use Wi-Fi invisibility cloak (25 July 2002)
• News: Wireless (in)security: are your networks snoop-proof? (24 July 2002)
• News: Security concerns loom in new wireless world (22 July 2002)
• News: Wi-Fi hackers are stealing bandwidth (17 July 2002)
• News: Where wireless is most vulnerable (2 July 2002)
• News: Network America: Wireless security? Read it and Wep (28 June 2002)
• News: Wireless security in this modern world (26 June 2002)
• News: Cisco augments wireless LAN security (18 June 2002)
• News: Hottest hardware for Wi-Fi security (17 June 2002)
• News: IBM software aims to shut down "drive-by hacking" (17 June 2002)
• News: Startup takes on WLAN security (3 June 2002)
• News: Odyssey makes wireless LANs a safe trip (22 May 2002)
• News: Could hackers derail wireless LANs? (17 May 2002)
• News: Protecting the WLAN (13 May 2002)
• News: Wireless Internet (6 May 2002)
• News: Wireless (In)Security (3 May 2002)
• News: WLANS to Get More Secure (29 April 2002)
• News: Security exhibitors set up insecure WLANs (24 April 2002)