Security is always a key issue in systems administration, one that intensifies when your business is considering wireless solutions. In a recent study by the Wi-Fi Alliance, 35 percent of IT managers cited security as their top concern when deploying wireless networks. The second most-cited concern: standards compliance. When it comes to network security, the stakes are high — if your transmissions aren’t secure you run the risk of outsiders intercepting business email, examining corporate files and using your network connection to distribute their own communications. Between ensuring protection against intruders and providing ease of use for employees, network administrators are often faced with competing demands. But with a range of new solutions available for wireless LAN deployments (WLAN), ‘wireless’ and ’secure’ don’t have to be mutually exclusive terms.
As you consider various wireless security solutions on the market, explore the standards-based technology that Apple has developed for wireless networking. Apple offers industry-standard software and hardware for a range of business needs and supports a number of common proprietary systems as well. With members on many IEEE 802.11 standards workgroups, Apple has developed solutions that specifically address the three primary concerns of IT professionals: security, standards compliance and ease of use.
Sophisticated, Standards-Based Encryption and Authentication
To secure your network, consider deploying WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) or WPA2 (the second generation of WPA). Both standards protect data flowing between Wi-Fi devices and access points by using encryption as well as user authentication (username and password). These technologies ensure that your organisation’s data remains protected and only authorised users can access the networks.
The primary difference between WPA and WPA2 is the technology used for data encryption. WPA uses Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) for data encryption, while WPA2 uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), a stronger encryption technology that can be required for industries demanding highly secure networks. As a network administrator, you can choose the standard most appropriate for your environment. Keep in mind when making this decision that not all 802.11 products support WPA2.
There are three main components to WPA or WPA2 deployments in an enterprise: client devices that are WPA or WPA2 compliant (supplicants), access points that are WPA or WPA2 compliant (authenticators) and a RADIUS (authentication) server. Apple hardware supports these standards, and Wi-Fi-certified devices with WPA and WPA2 specifications are cross-vendor compatible.
Wireless Solutions from Apple
Apple pioneered the adoption of affordable secure wireless communications standards and was one of the first companies to ship products based on 802.11b protocols. Today all Apple products are built to support 802.11 protocols and are WPA and WPA2-compliant and Wi-Fi certified. Mac OS X also supports these industry standards. Wireless solutions from Apple are specifically designed to protect your technology investments and ensure secure, standards-based, interoperable networks.
Apple portables, like the MacBook and MacBook Pro, come standard with out-of-the-box capabilities for wireless networking as well as built-in support for security standards. With Apple you can deploy up-to-the-minute wireless technology and also secure your network to protect your business.
AirPort Extreme supports Wi-Fi and is certified to work with 802.11b- and 802.11g-compliant products (including PCs). It also supports RADIUS. AirPort Extreme is built-in as standard to all Apple notebooks and delivers state-of-the-art wireless performance, employing the 802.11g wireless standard. The AirPort Extreme Base Station also supports MAC address filtering, another authentication mechanism.
Within 802.11i protocols, Apple also supports industry-standard EAP configurations commonly used by multiple vendors. EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) is an authentication framework used to validate the identity of network devices. Two of these EAP types — EAP-TTLS and EAP-PEAP — are similar protocols, both requiring end-user authentication. EAP-TLS requires a certificate for every user.
Other Technologies to Suit Your Needs
A variety of alternate technologies are also available to protect your WLAN. Two of these include VPN and captive portal authentication. VPN (Virtual Private Network) is an effective way to protect transmissions from Wi-Fi-equipped computers to corporate servers and systems. On your corporate campus, you can set up your wireless network so that employees and visitors can easily access the Internet using wireless connectivity. To log on to the corporate network, however, users will need to initiate a VPN session. This configuration offers both ease of use for employees and security for your organisation.
The same VPN technology may be used for remote employees as well. VPN works by creating a secure virtual “tunnel” that runs from the end-user’s computer through the Internet, to your organisation’s servers and systems. A VPN server at company headquarters creates an encryption scheme for data transferred to computers outside the corporate offices. Special VPN software on the remote computer or laptop uses the same encryption scheme, so your data can be safely transferred back and forth with no chance of interception.
Captive portal authentication is another technology in common use. With a Web portal, you’re limited in what you can access when you first connect to the wireless network — in most cases you can only reach a Web page that serves as an authentication checkpoint. Once you successfully authenticate, you gain access to other networked resources. This is the technology that most hotels, airports, coffee shops and similar businesses use when they charge for wireless access.
Choosing the Right Security Solution
Ultimately, a successful approach toward wireless security will take into account your organisation’s environment and how best to balance protection technologies with ease of use. Today, WPA and WPA2 encryption technologies offer reliable security standards for a range of needs. Whether you want to implement more or fewer security checkpoints will depend largely on the makeup of your employees and the nature of your industry. With the range of standards-based technologies readily available, there’s no limit to how strict your network security you can be.
