As the name indicates, Wireless Networking means no cables or wires required to network your computers and share your Internet connection. Wi-Fi connects computers, printers, video camera's and game consoles into a fast Ethernet network via microwaves.
A wireless LAN is the perfect way to improve data connectivity in an existing building without the expense of installing a structured cabling scheme to every desk. Besides the freedom that wireless computing affords users, ease of connection is a further benefit. Problems with the physical aspects of wired LAN connections (locating live data outlets, loose patch cords, broken connectors, etc.) generate a significant volume of helpdesk calls. With a wireless network, the incidence of these problems is reduced.
A range 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. Without doubt, wireless LANs have a high gee-whiz factor. They provide always-on network connectivity, but don’t require a network cable. Office workers can roam from meeting to meeting throughout a building, constantly connected to the same network resources enjoyed by wired, desk-bound coworkers. Home or remote workers can set up networks without worrying about how to run wires through houses that never were designed to support network infrastructure. Wireless LANS may actually prove less expensive to support than traditional networks for employees that need to connect to corporate resources in multiple office locations. Large hotel chains, airlines, convention centers, Internet cafes, etc., see wireless LANs as an additional revenue opportunity for providing Internet connectivity to their customers. Wireless is a more affordable and logistically acceptable alternative to wired LANs for these organizations. For example, an airline can provide for-fee wireless network access for travelers in frequent flyer lounges – or anywhere else in the airport. Market maturity and technology advances will lower the cost and accelerate widespread adoption of wireless LANs. End-user spending, the primary cost metric, will drop from about $250 in 2001 to around $180 in 2004 (Gartner Group). By 2005, 50 percent of Fortune 1000 companies will have extensively deployed wireless LAN technology based on evolved 802.11 standards (0.7 probability). By 2010, the majority of Fortune 2000 companies will have deployed wireless LANs to support standard, wired network technology LANs (0.6 probability).
For the anticipated future wireless technology will complement wired connectivity in enterprise environments. Even new buildings will continue to incorporate wired LANs. The primary reason is that wired networking remains less expensive than wireless. In addition, wired networks offer greater bandwidth, allowing for future applications beyond the capabilities of today’s wireless systems. Although it may cost 10 times more to retrofit a building for wired networking (initial construction being by far the preferred time to set up network infrastructure), wiring is only a very small fraction of the cost of the overall capital outlay for an enterprise network. For that reason, many corporations are only just testing wireless technology. This limited acceptance at the corporate level means few access points with a limited number of users in real world production environments, or evaluation test beds sequestered in a lab. In response, business units and individuals will deploy wireless access points on their own. These unauthorized networks almost certainly lack adequate attention to information security, and present a serious concern for protecting online business assets.
Finally, the 802.11b standard shares unlicensed frequencies with other devices, including
Bluetooth wireless personal area networks (PANs), cordless phones, and baby monitors. These technologies can, and do, interfere with each other. 802.11b also fails to delineate roaming
802.11b’s low cost of entry is what makes it so attractive. However, inexpensive equipment also makes it easier for attackers to mount an attack. “Rogue” access points and unauthorized, poorly secured networks compound the odds of a security breach.
Although attacks against 802.11b and other wireless technologies will undoubtedly increase in number and sophistication over time, most current 802.11b risks fall into seven basic categories like, Insertion attacks, Interception, unauthorized monitoring of wireless traffic and Jamming.
With all its advantages, the major issue related to it is security, anyone within the geographical network range of an open, unencrypted wireless network can 'sniff' or record the traffic, gain unauthorized access to internal network resources as well as to the internet, and then possibly sending spam or doing other illegal actions using the wireless network's IP address, all of which are rare for home routers but may be significant concerns for office networks. There are three principal ways to secure a wireless network.
For closed networks (like home users and organizations) the most common way is to configure access restrictions in the access points. Those restrictions may include encryption and checks on MAC address. Another option is to disable ESSID broadcasting, making the access point difficult for outsiders to detect. Wireless Intrusion Prevention Systems can be used to provide wireless LAN security in this network model.
For commercial providers, hotspots, and large organizations, the preferred solution is often to have an open and unencrypted, but completely isolated wireless network. The users will at first have no access to the Internet nor to any local network resources. Commercial providers usually forward all web traffic to a captive portal which provides for payment and/or authorization. Another solution is to require the users to connect securely to a privileged network using VPN.
Wireless networks are less secure than wired ones; in many offices intruders can easily visit and hook up their own computer to the wired network without problems, gaining access to the network, and it's also often possible for remote intruders to gain access to the network through backdoors like Back Orifice. One general solution may be end-to-end encryption, with independent authentication on all resources that shouldn't be available to the public.
Wireless LAN security has a long way to go. Current Implementation of WEP has proved to be flawed. Further initiatives to come up with a standard that is robust and provides adequate security are urgently needed. The 802.1x and EAP are just mid points in a long journey. Till new security standard for WLAN comes up third party and proprietary methods need to be implemented.
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