04-02-2013, 12:50 PM
Wi-Fi Security - Securing your home network
[attachment=49524]
What is Wi-Fi?
IEEE 802.11 or Wi-Fi denotes a set of wireless standards developed by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee.
Trivia – name comes from working group 11 of the IEEE.
Wi-Fi uses radio frequency (RF) to establish a network connection.
802.11b and 802.11g standards use the 2.4 GHz band.
802.11b and 802.11g equipment can incur interference from microwave ovens, cordless phones, and other appliances using the same 2.4 GHz band.
How it transmits
Ethernet uses CSMA/CD
carrier sense multiple access with collision detection
Ethernet waits to see if the wire is idle, then sends. If a collision is detected, it resends.
Wi-FI uses carrier sense multiple access protocol with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA).
The base station polls nodes to see if they have anything to send… much overhead in controlling transmission.
The protocol itself is different than Ethernet, hence performance and reliability differ.
Why Secure your Wi-Fi?
Why secure it?
Banking and sensitive information.
Identity theft.
Wireless cracking of your home PCs.
Basic privacy.
Prevent sharing of your Internet connection.
How easy is it to ‘snif’ unsecured Wi-Fi?
Very, very easy… use a wireless protocol analyzer to see all information.
Securing your Wi-Fi
Use WEP or WPA to encrypt data.
Wired Equivalency Privacy
Wi-Fi Protected Access
Can be cracked, but difficult. WPA is stronger.
Both work at Layer 2.
WEP is analogous to locking your front door handle, whereas WPA is installing a good bolt lock. (Neither will deter a sufficiently motivated intruder!)
WPA2 provides government grade security by implementing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) FIPS 140-2 compliant AES encryption algorithm.
[attachment=49524]
What is Wi-Fi?
IEEE 802.11 or Wi-Fi denotes a set of wireless standards developed by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee.
Trivia – name comes from working group 11 of the IEEE.
Wi-Fi uses radio frequency (RF) to establish a network connection.
802.11b and 802.11g standards use the 2.4 GHz band.
802.11b and 802.11g equipment can incur interference from microwave ovens, cordless phones, and other appliances using the same 2.4 GHz band.
How it transmits
Ethernet uses CSMA/CD
carrier sense multiple access with collision detection
Ethernet waits to see if the wire is idle, then sends. If a collision is detected, it resends.
Wi-FI uses carrier sense multiple access protocol with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA).
The base station polls nodes to see if they have anything to send… much overhead in controlling transmission.
The protocol itself is different than Ethernet, hence performance and reliability differ.
Why Secure your Wi-Fi?
Why secure it?
Banking and sensitive information.
Identity theft.
Wireless cracking of your home PCs.
Basic privacy.
Prevent sharing of your Internet connection.
How easy is it to ‘snif’ unsecured Wi-Fi?
Very, very easy… use a wireless protocol analyzer to see all information.
Securing your Wi-Fi
Use WEP or WPA to encrypt data.
Wired Equivalency Privacy
Wi-Fi Protected Access
Can be cracked, but difficult. WPA is stronger.
Both work at Layer 2.
WEP is analogous to locking your front door handle, whereas WPA is installing a good bolt lock. (Neither will deter a sufficiently motivated intruder!)
WPA2 provides government grade security by implementing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) FIPS 140-2 compliant AES encryption algorithm.