Hardening IEEE 802.11 wireless networks pot

Hardening IEEE 802.11 wireless networks

Hardening IEEE 802.11 wireless networks

January 2002

Tyson Macaulay,

Director, PKI and Wireless Security

EWA Canada

www.ewa-canada.com

www.ewa.com

Hardening IEEE 802.11 wireless networks

Copyright EWA Canada 2002 i

Table of contents

1 Introduction................................................................................................................. 1

2 WLAN architecture..................................................................................................... 1

3 Security under the WLAN status quo ......................................................................... 3

4 Threats to WLANs...................................................................................................... 4

5 Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP)........................................................................... 4

6 Rudimentary steps for Hardening WLANs................................................................. 6

7 Intermediate steps for Hardening WLANs ................................................................. 8

8 Comprehensive steps to hardening WLANS ............................................................ 13

9 Other enhancements: VPN and IDS ......................................................................... 16

10 Roadmap for Hardening 802.11................................................................................ 17

11 Contact information and Author’s Bio ..................................................................... 18

List of figures

Figure 1: WLAN Overview ................................................................................................ 2

Figure 2: Peer to Peer Overview......................................................................................... 2

Figure 3: Access Point network placement......................................................................... 8

Figure 4: Device MAC information.................................................................................... 9

Figure 5: Radiation leakage from an Access Point........................................................... 12

Figure 6: Better Antenna placement ................................................................................. 12

Figure 7: Reduced signal strength..................................................................................... 13

Figure 8: Shaped antenna radiation................................................................................... 14

Figure 9: Roadmap to harden WLANs ............................................................................. 17

Revision history

Version Date Authors

1.0 January 15, 2002 Tyson Macaulay