Abstract
Wireless Broadband offers incredibly fast, “always on” Internet similar to ADSL and sets the user free from the fixed access areas. In order to achieve these features standardisation was achieved for Wireless LAN (WLANs) and Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WMANs) with the advent of IEEE802.11 and IEEE802.16 family of standards, respectively. One serious concern in the rapidly developing wireless networking market has been the security of the deployments since the information is delivered freely in the air and therefore privacy and integrity of the transmitted information, along with the user-authentication procedures, become a very important issue. In this article, we present the security characteristics for the WiFi and the WiMAX networks. We thoroughly present the security mechanisms along with a threat analysis for both IEEE 802.11 and the 802.16 as well as their amendments. We summarise in a comparative manner the security characteristics and the possible residual threats for both standards. Finally focus on the necessary actions and configurations that are needed in order to deploy WiFi and WiMAX with increased levels of security and privacy.
Highlights
In 1997, the initial form of the 802.11 protocol was presented [1]
The Robust Security Network Association (RSNA) with the 802.11i and the WPA2 does provide a secure wireless network operation, and it is the only security mechanism in Wireless Fidelity Alliance (WiFi) that operates with AES encryption, CCMP integrity mechanisms, key derivation and management with Extensible Authentication Protocol over LANs (EAPOL), and secured user-authentication with the 802.1X protocol, that resembles with the strong mechanisms that WiMAX uses
An important reason is the operational characteristics of the WiMAX networks, covering large areas and serving many more users than a WiFi network does
Summary
In 1997, the initial form of the 802.11 protocol was presented [1]. Since various amended protocols have been added. The higher data rates achieved with the usage of a wider range of modulation options Another important amendment was the IEEE 802.11i protocol [4], in which, newer and stronger security and authentication mechanisms were added in order to address security deficiencies that were presented in WiFi. After the commercial success of the standard-based equipment and the thriving demand for broadband wireless access, the vision of networks covering larger areas and extended services was the undertake of the IEEE.
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