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II. Wireless Security Concept
II.1. Security for 802.11 Network
Security for 802.11 networks can be simplified into two main components: authentication and encryption.
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is part of the system security of 802.11, and its goals are to provide
confidentiality and data integrity, and to protect access to the network infrastructure by rejecting all
non-WEP packets.
With 802.11 WEP, all APs and client radio NICs (Network Interface Card) on a particular wireless
LAN have to use the same encryption key. A sending station encrypt each frame with a WEP key
before transmission, and the receiving station decrypts it using the same key upon reception. This
process reduces the risk of eavesdropping and gaining access to the information that carried by the
frames.
III. Glossary
802.11b
- An IEEE wireless networking standard that specifies a maximum data transfer rate of
11Mbps and an operating frequency of 2.4GHz.
802.11g
- An IEEE wireless networking standard that specifies a maximum data transfer rate of
54Mbps, an operating frequency of 2.4GHz, and backward compatibility with 802.11b devices.
802.11a
- An IEEE wireless networking standard that specifies a maximum data transfer rate of
54Mbps and an operating frequency of 5GHz.
Adapter
- A device that adds network functionality to your PC.
Ad-hoc
- A group of wireless devices communicating directly with each other (peer-to-peer)
without the use of an access point.
Backbone
- The part of a network that connects most of the systems and networks together, and
handles the most data.
Bandwidth
- The transmission capacity of a given device or network.
Beacon Interval
- Data transmitted on your wireless network that keeps the network
synchronized.
