Wireless Operational Security
This comprehensive wireless network book addresses the operational and day-to-day security management requirements of 21st century companies.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Wireless Operational Security
Chapter 12: WISDOM for WLAN Practitioners
We have identified the 802.11 WLAN as the most vulnerable and critical node in wireless converged network security. WLANs can easily be reconfig-ured, are very mobile, allow for potentially continuous exposure, and require the level of security (a.k.a., a security profile) to be scrutinized even more than is required for wired networks. This includes inherent security flaws known to exist in 802.11 architecture that result in additional risks to otherwise secure converged wired networks. An even worse scenario to consider is one where an insecure WLAN is connected to a weakly secured or insecure wired network and the wireless subnet is not separated from the wired subnet. There is a significant need for a comprehensive network security methodology that integrates wired and wireless technologies and addresses their characteristics and security requirements.
This chapter presents a model developed by James Ransome during his doctoral research that is known as the Wireless Integrated Secure Data Options Model (WISDOM). WISDOM provides three tiered security options, with proper hardware, software, and security requirements delineated to secure a WLAN at a corresponding security level equivalent to the wired network with which it connects. We have combined additional work-sheets to supplement WISDOM and have presented them in this chapter as a baseline for your future use in WLAN security architecture design.
12.1 Risk Assessments Revisited
It is not useful to secure a WLAN if the data is not worth protecting. The two primary types of assets to protect on a WLAN are sensitive data and network...
Copyright John W. Rittinghouse and James F. Ransome 2004 under license agreement with Books24x7
