Chapter 5 - Wireless Security Countermeasures

Abstract

Securing wireless networking activities from hackers requires a balanced blend of security intelligence, policy adjustments, standards, tactics, technologies, and user participation. This chapter examines how one can maximize the features of existing security standards like wired equivalent privacy (NVEP) along with the effectiveness of media access control (MAC) and protocol filtering as a way of minimizing opportunity. It also discusses the security advantages of using virtual private networks (VPNs) on a wireless network and the importance of convincing users of the role they can play as key users of the network. The original 802.11 standards are inadequate for securing wireless local area networks (WLANs). Although they provide a methodology of accessing or extending the LAN wirelessly, which offers comfort to users in the form of mobility, it leaves devices vulnerable to rudimentary attacks from hackers. The chapter describes how to protect all areas of the wireless network in a sufficient manner to minimize the risk, by utilizing some of the proven methods of protection (such as VPN solutions, firewalls, authentication, subnetting, and encryption) along with some new twists.