Security+: Installing and Configuring Wireless Security Settings

Introduction

With the advent of the internet, the technological advancements of wireless networking have increased by leaps and bounds. Recent years witnessed the rapid growth of wireless systems in both home and corporate networks. To ensure the provision of cost-effective and reliable wireless services, the companies must install, configure, manage, and protect their wireless infrastructure with adequate security controls. The following sections elaborate the concepts needed to install and configure wireless security settings and these concepts are also necessary for the Security+ exam.

What Cryptographic Protocols Do I Need to Know for Security+?

Unlike wired connections, data which is transmitted across wireless networks can easily be compromised if adequate security controls are not in place. One easy solution is to encrypt the data so that even if it gets into the wrong hands, no one would be able to read it. The following sections illustrate various cryptographic protocols that you need to know for your Security+ exam.

WPA: Wi-Fi Protected Access

WPA is a security protocol based on TKIP and LEAP security solutions (discussed later) and was developed as an alternative to WEP. Even though WPA is an improvement, it isn’t the most secure due to its employment of a single static passphrase. The attackers can use a brute-force attack to discover the passphrase secretly. Furthermore, LEAP and TKIP encryption methods are indeed vulnerable to numerous cracking techniques such as rainbow table attacks and dictionary attacks. The WPA supports the following two modes that can be used to allow authorized access.

WPA2: Wi-Fi Protected Access 2

WPA2 encryption solution is also based on AES algorithms and considered to be one of the most secure cryptographic protocols for wireless communication because it adds Robust Security Network (RSN) support. RSN incorporates added protection for ad-hoc networks, key caching, pre-roaming authentication, and Counter (Read more...)