Wireless LAN Security

Although a variety of wireless network technologies have or will soon reach the general business market, wireless LANs based on the 802.11 standard are the most likely candidate to become widely prevalent in corporate environments. Current 802.11b products operate at 2.4GHz, and deliver up to 11Mbps of bandwidth ­comparable to a standard Ethernet wired LAN in performance. An upcoming version called 802.11a moves to a higher frequency range, and promises significantly faster speeds. It is expected to have security concerns similar to 802.11b.

This low cost, combined with strong performance and ease of deployment, mean that many departments and individuals already use 802.11b, at home or at work ­ even if IT staff and security management administrators do not yet recognize wireless LANs as an approved technology. This paper addresses the security concerns raised by both current and upcoming 802.11 network technologies.

Download the paper in PDF format here.