AirMagnet PRG-Laptop 7.0, Reference Manual, Page: 111 / 210

AirMagnet Laptop Wireless LAN Policy Reference Guide
Chapter 5: Authentication and Encryption 103
Chapter 5:Authentication and Encryption
The first line of defense for WLAN security is user authentication and
wireless traffic encryption. Centralized WLAN user authentication
based on the IEEE 802.1x standard with a RADIUS server at the back-
end is a flexible and strong mechanism. The figure below diagrams
the 802.1x authentication process:
Figure 5-1: 802.1x User Authentication Process
Other authentication methods (such as VPN) may also be used to
achieve the same goals. User authentication blocks out unauthorized
access to your wired and wireless resources. Traffic encryption goes
hand-in-hand with user authentication, during which the encryption
secrets are exchanged between AP and authorized users. Traffic
encryption prevents intruders from eavesdropping on your wireless
traffic.
AirMagnet Mobile validates your WLAN security deployment by
monitoring on the authentication transactions and traffic encryption
methods against the specified security deployment policy, which
AirMagnet Mobile learns from the AirMagnet policy configuration.
For example, AirMagnet generates the Device unprotected by PEAP
alarm if the 802.1x EAP type-PEAP is your enterprise standardized
authentication protocol. Common security violations in this category
Laptop Wireless LAN Policy Reference Guide.book Page 103 Thursday, January 25, 2007 5:36 PM