Wireless Security

Wireless Security

Abstract

The advent of Information and Communications Technology has brought a lot of changes in today 's modern world . Many technologies are available in the market today that brings improvement in almost all aspects of development . One of these technologies is the establishment of a network

A network is , basically , consists of computers or node connected together to share resources . One network can interconnect another network either through wired or wireless communication paths . A network should have these four things - HUB to perform traffic control , CABLE which

is used to connect all medium , Network Interface Card (NIC ) which is plugged into the computer to be able to send and receive messages and PROTOCOL which is the language used to communicate among nodes in the network (Jelen , 2003

In a network , processes may institute a session to exchange information . There are different ways to connect processes to communicate over the network . One common scheme is circuit switching which establishes a permanent physical link between computers . This link is allocated for the entire duration of the communication . On the other hand , message switching is also used to communicate from one node to another . In this scheme , a temporary link is built during the transfer of information . Another scheme used is packet switching which divides the message into a number of packets and each packet is sent to its destination separately (Silberschatz Galvin , 1998 p489

Introduction

Where there are people , there will be technology , because the world needs it to survive . In the present , technology is all around us . Every where you go you run into some type of technology , whether you know it or not . Advancement in technology makes everyday things easier than they have ever been before . But as an evolving society , new technologies are what drive the world today : 3G mobile communications , Voice over Internet Protocol , Bluetooth , and wireless devices are the new driving forces , but where will they take us

Wireless devices , like all technologies that provide external access to corporate networks , present security challenges . With wireless standards and practices still rapidly evolving , it is important to understand the strengths and limitations of available technologies in to implement a secure solution . Extending current security policies to encompass wireless devices requires an understanding of the security features of both wireless devices and wireless networks

Types of Wireless Networks

The Wireless Market

Over the past ten years or so an alternative to wired LAN structures has evolved in the form of the Wireless LAN . The first generation Wireless LAN products , operating in unlicensed 900-928 MHz Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM ) band , with low range and throughput offering (500 Kbps , subjected to interference came to market with few successes in some applications . But they enjoyed reputation of being inexpensive due to break through development in semiconductor technologies , on the other hand the band become crowded with other products with in short period of time leaving no room for further development

The second generation in 2 .40-2 .483 GHz ISM...