Security In Wireless LANS And MANS

The topics of this book are the security of 802.16 wireless metropolitan area networks (MANs) and 802.11 wireless local area networks (WLANs). Authors Thomas Hardjono and Lakshminath R. Dondeti have done an outstanding job of writing a book that provides a roadmap for readers seeking a deeper understanding of the security aspects of 802.11 WLANs today and the upcoming 802.16 WMANs.

Hardjono and Dondeti begin this book by providing an introduction to WLANs and cover the basic network configuration of a WLAN and describe the entities involved. Next, the authors bring together EAP, TLS and Certificates, that are technologically crucial for authentication and for the security of WLANs and WMANs in general. In addition, the authors next devote their discussion exclusively to the EAP methods that are most commonly cited and used today in the 802.1X context. Next, they devote their discussion entirely to WEP in order to correctly explain its weaknesses and to understand what improvements need to be made. Then, they provide a discussion on the 4-way exchange used to derive unicast session keys and the protocols used to deliver these keys to their intended recipients. The authors then cover another important building block of the RSN. Next, they provide a discussion of TKIP. Next, they introduce the notion of roaming as found in today’s dial-up Internet. The authors then elaborate on the new area of 3G-WLAN roaming. Next, they provide some basic background regarding 802.16, including network arrangement, frequency bands, the MAC security sublayer, and network entry/initialization. Then, they provide a discussion and insight into recent developments on the security of 802.16. Finally, they provide a brief summary of the book and ongoing work in 802.11 and 802.16 networks.

With the preceding in mind, the authors have done an excellent job of bringing together and explaining the other broader areas of networking technology that are being impacted by the advent of 802.11 WLANs and 802.16 WMANs. Consequently, this book greatly succeeds in explaining what current approaches and solutions have been adopted, and why these were chosen.

Rating: 5 / 5

When wireless LANS were beginning to be developed, security was a concern. But as the systems were developed and marketed security became less important than getting to market quickly and of course price. As a result, the seurity features built into the initial systems was fairly weak. While the home user typically didn’t care about security, the enterprise user was very concerned. After security flaws were discovered and published the widespread use at the enterprise level was halted. The IEEE standards community completed the revision of the security related components of the 802.11 standard in 2004, and equipment meeting the new standard is just becoming available.

This book covers the security aspects of WLANS, first discussing the initial designs and then how they were corrected in the new protocols.

The last part of the book is on the 802.16 Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks which have the promise, or perhaps the hope of dramatically increasing broadband access in areas not covered by cable systems and at distances too great for DSL service.
Rating: 5 / 5