Wireless Security Techniques

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) was the first-generation security standard for
wireless network. Attackers quickly discovered that 64-bit WEP encryption was
easy to break. Monitoring programs could detect the encryption keys used to
encode the messages. After the keys were obtained, messages could be easily
decoded. In an attempt to overcome this weakness, most users employ a 128-bit
key for WEP.
Change the default administration password.
Disable the broadcasting of the Service Set Identifier (SSID) to hide it from other
users.
Use MAC filtering to protect the network from other users.
Change the default values of the SSID by entering the setup program for the
access point and renaming the SSID.
Update to the latest available firmware.
Install or activate a firewall, and adjust the settings to eliminate all traffic except the
desired network settings.
Update to the latest available firmware.

Different types of wireless security:

1. Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol (LEAP): Also called EAP-Cisco,

LEAP is a wireless security protocol created by Cisco to address the weaknesses in
WEP and WPA. LEAP is a good choice when using Cisco equipment in conjunction
with operating systems such as Windows and Linux.
2. Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA): An improved version of WEP. It was created as a
temporary solution until 802.11i (a security layer for wireless systems) was fully
implemented. Now that 802.11i has been ratified, WPA2 has been released. It
covers the entire 802.11i standard.
3. WEP 128: An enhanced encryption protocol combining a 104-bit key and a 24-bit
initialization vector.
4. WEP 64: The first-generation security standard for wireless network. It could be
exploited because of an encryption key that was vulnerable to decoding.
5. No security: Although you can elect to implement no security whatsoever, you leave
your wireless network completely vulnerable to attack.
6. Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS) is a security layer used in mobile
devices that employ the Wireless Applications Protocol (WAP).