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802.11i Issues Affecting WLAN Security And Authentication

The 802.11i protocol for wireless encryption is on track to become an IEEE standard by June, but it looks like existing WLAN customers seeking to adopt it will need to swap out hardware instead of just upgrading software. In addition, Cisco and Microsoft have gone their separate ways on a WLAN authentication technology called Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP), creating a schism that could result in interoperability issues. . . .. This is supposed to be the year that the industry addresses the serious security shortcomings that are holding back enterprise wireless LAN rollouts. But looming implementation issues and vendor disagreement are raising questions about just how soon the security dilemma will be solved. The 802.11i protocol for wireless encryption is on track to become an IEEE standard by June, but it looks like existing WLAN customers seeking to adopt it will need to swap out hardware instead of just upgrading software. In addition, Cisco and Microsoft have gone their separate ways on a WLAN authentication technology called Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP), creating a schism that could result in interoperability issues. The 802.11i protocol for shielding wireless data from over-the-air attacks is intended to replace the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) specification that the Wi-Fi Alliance put forward in late 2002 as an interim replacement for the flawed Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption standard. But however promising 802.11i seems, it won't be as simple to adopt as say, WPA, which only called for a software upgrade. Because of its more intensive encryption processing, 802.11i will require an entirely new wireless access point in many cases. That has WLAN vendors and customers discussing migration strategies as "802.11i-upgradeable" access points start to hit the market in advance of the standard's completion. "This is a huge issue right now," says Jon Allen, coordinator of IT security at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, which has a campuswide WLAN based onEnterasys Networks gear. "It's very important that with limited university funds we not get dead-ended with hardware." The link for this article located at NWFusion.com is no longer available. . In the current year, the sector addresses critical vulnerabilities plaguing corporate wireless LAN deployments.. 802.11i Protocol, WLAN Challenges, Wireless Security Solutions. . Anthony Pell

Jan 13, 2004 • Anthony Pell Network Security