Wireless LAN Security

Is your critical information secure? Do intruders have the key to your wireless network and information?
Is your enterprise data at risk to theft?

Do you have rogue access points in your business enterprise that you do not know about?
Wireless LANs have become a mission-critical part of business infrastructures, but have introduced new challenges in terms of security, reliability and performance. The broadcast nature of wireless makes data protection challenging. An unsecured WLAN is an open door into a secure network. Networking professionals are encouraging people to think twice about wireless network security. You might be thinking, "I use WEP-128 bit encryption with MAC address filtering, I'm safe." Or perhaps you have never heard of WEP. If this is the case you might want to unplug your wireless access point immediately. But then again, look at the bright side; at least you don't have the false sense of security that your network is secure.

Perhaps you are the smart guy who knows how insecure wireless networks are. You too are at just an equal risk! Your computer consultants might be partially right when they say WEP will protect your network. It will protect your network from casual snooping but that is about it. Last year the FBI was able to crack a WEP-protected network in less than 3 minutes with tools widely available on the Internet.

If someone has gone through the process of getting on your network, chances are the goal is much more than simple Internet access. Any computer security professional will tell you that physical access to the network is 95% of the security battle. Once this has happened, you can consider all of your data compromised. Customer invoices, customer data, credit card numbers and passwords to financial institutions will all be in the hands of a hacker.

Many methods can be used to gain access to your personal data, whether through Key loggers, Trojans or just by sniffing your plaintext network traffic. Say your access points are completely locked down, to your knowledge. A user from your network goes and flips on his laptop while sitting in an airport terminal waiting for a plane. He sees an available insecure wireless network so he clicks on it and connects. Little does he know that he has just clicked on a fake honey pot wireless network, set up by a rogue hacker who has gained access to scan the unsuspecting person's machine.

Picture for a moment that user could be anywhere, even sitting at a desk in your network. Just as long as the rogue access point is stronger than your access point radio signal, your network security is compromised.

Maybe you fall into the category of never setting up wireless networks because you read about their insecurities. How then can you be at risk? Just consider for a moment that a user in your organization fires up his wireless card and sees a wireless network that is named XYZ Corp., after your company. The user innocently enough connects to it and immediately a script is hammering the computer for security vulnerabilities. Once again, connecting to a rogue access point that was set up by a hacker begins the downhill slide to a major security risk.

Security is a multi-tiered company-wide responsibility. From providing physical security to web site security, all matters should be considered serious and taken seriously. Before you grab a wireless access point and slap it in your business enterprise network, we urge you to think twice. You may think you are in a sinking boat because you are a small organization not able to implement the latest technologies and afford the newest access points. Or maybe you cannot afford to pay an IT staff over $100k-$200k a year to maintain your medium size network.

Wireless network specialists at ScanOnline say you should consider IT outsourcing or IT consulting. You can get network certified engineers on a project-by-project basis

Wireless LAN Security Applications

Odyssey is a wireless LAN access control and security solution that not only provides strong security over the wireless link, but also can be easily and widely deployed and managed across an enterprise network. Odyssey includes client and server software. It secures the authentication and connection of wireless LAN (WLAN) users, ensuring that only authorized users can connect, that connection credentials will not be compromised, and that data privacy will be maintained. Odyssey is based on the IEEE security standard 802.1x, and supports a wide variety of 802.1x security methods, including the strong and easily managed security method EAP-TTLS. EAP-TTLS offers the significant benefit of not requiring the set up and management of client certificates on each WLAN computer. Instead, the wireless network user is safely authenticated to the network using ordinary password-based credentials, whose use is made proof against active and passive attack by enclosing it in a TLS security wrapper.

You will be able to safely deploy WLAN access against your existing authentication infrastructure, significantly alleviating your management burden and allowing users to connect with the credentials they are accustomed to using. Odyssey supports a wide variety of WLAN environments. It runs on multiple Windows platforms so you will be able to set up your users for WLAN access, whether they are running new or legacy equipment. Plus, both Odyssey Client and Server support all 802.1x-capable access equipment, for unsurpassed multi-vendor compatibility. Step up to the most secure, easily managed WLAN access - with Odyssey.

Odyssey Overview

Odyssey is available as a Client/Server system, and as a stand-alone Client. Odyssey comprises:

Odyssey Client - runs on Windows XP, 2000, 98, Me, Pocket PC 2002, and Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC and lets a user securely connect to a WLAN. It can communicate with Odyssey Server or any authentication server which supports an Odyssey authentication type, to get necessary security and connection information.
Odyssey Server - Odyssey Server is a RADIUS server customized to handle WLAN users and security. It handles connection requests from Odyssey Clients and other 802.1x clients which support WLAN authentication types.

Multiple Wireless Security Types

The level of security on a WLAN is determined by the “EAP authentication type” in use. EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) authentication types provide credential security, data security, or both.

Authenticates against Windows, or Forwards to Other Authentication Systems

Odyssey can safely authenticate WLAN users directly against your existing Windows 2000 Native Domain or NT Domain authentication database, and includes full support for user and group designations. And, for seamless integration into networks which are not exclusively Windows-based, Odyssey can also forward EAP-TTLS authentication requests to other RADIUS servers, including Steel-Belted Radius, for safe authentication against non-Windows authentication schemes. Odyssey is an end-to-end solution which provides unsurpassed security and ease of management when using EAP-TTLS. That said, Odyssey was designed to be compatible in a wide variety of WLAN environments, and to be compatible with other 802.1x solutions.

First, Odyssey supports the widest variety of WLAN network adapter cards and access points, including those from 3Com, Agere, Avaya, Cisco, Enterasys, Proxim, and Symbol, for ensured compatibility in your network environment. Odyssey Server can manage connections from Microsoft (via EAP-PEAP or EAP-TLS) or Cisco (via EAP-PEAP or EAP-LEAP) 802.1x clients you may have already deployed.

Odyssey Client is compatible with Odyssey Server, Steel-Belted Radius, and other EAP-compatible RADIUS servers already in place on your network and, since it runs with equivalent security functionality and interface on more Windows platforms, is an excellent complement to the XP-only Microsoft client. Plus, Odyssey gives you the flexibility to easily migrate from one security methodology to another. For example, you may wish to beef up the security on your network and migrate from LEAP to EAP-TTLS.

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