How to secure a wireless LAN

How should I go about securing my company's wireless LAN?

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There are many known vulnerabilties with wireless technology. The most basic of these is simply being able to intercept the signals as they pass through the air. The Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol was supposed to provide security for wireless links, but it has been shown to be seriously insecure.

So, how do you secure a wireless LAN? The only safe way at the current time is to provide encryption for all the wireless links outside of the wireless products. The easiest way to do this is to use Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology. This will allow clients to establish encrypted tunnels over the wireless LAN to the servers they need to communciate with. Hopefully at some point in the future, WEP will be replaced by a protocol that actually does provide the security needed. Until then, a VPN is the way to go.

For more information on this topic, check out these resources:
Best Web Links: Virtual Private Networks
Best Web Links: Wireless Security
Featured Topic: Wireless Security

This was last published in December 2001

Dig Deeper on Network Access Control technologies

The role of VPN in an enterprise wireless network Given improvements in Wi-Fi security, does VPN still have a role to play in enterprise wireless? What are the practical benefits and limitations of using VPN over wireless? This tip discusses where to make best use of VPNs and how to smooth over conflicts between WLAN roaming and VPN tunnels.

From the ground up: Creating secure WLANs In this video, Lisa Phifer of Core Competence Inc. focuses on creating secure WLANs, including WLAN basics and implementation best practices.

How to leverage a virtual private network in an enterprise WLAN Consultants and systems integrators can get answers about the VPN's role in enterprise wireless environments, learn where to make best use of VPNs, and learn how to smooth over conflicts between WLAN roaming and VPN tunnels.

Secure WLAN best practices and topology Expert Michael Martin provides a list of wireless security "dos and don'ts" and a sample topology for a secure WLAN.

WLAN implementation -- Assess security enhancement: Step 3 Learn Step 3 of WLAN implementation; assess your security enhancement.

Five critical planning steps for wireless LANs, Step 3: Assessing security enhancements Learn about the best WLAN security options, including 802.11i, which incorporates the Advanced Encryption Standard, and the Wi-Fi Alliance's Wi-Fi Protected Access.

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