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Today's standards make wireless networking safer
More data is being processed over wireless networks each day. Because wireless networks operate on radio frequencies, these networks must be protected from unauthorized access or data interception by unintended parties. In the past, many businesses were slow to adopt wireless networking because of concerns over security.
However, today's authentication and encryption standards have produced solid, safe and secure wireless network capabilities. These standards, when supported with strong Wi-Fi management software, mean wireless networking has never been easier or more practical.
The latest authentication and encryption standards
Since 2003, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has approved two new wireless security standards: Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2). Both supersede the previous Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) standard adopted a few years ago, which had a weak 40-bit encryption key that compromised security. Today's standards incorporate encryption keys as large as 256 bits, authentication servers for user identification and wireless switches to manage your network.
Wireless access protected by 802.1x authentication and encryption
WPA uses the 802.1x family of local-area network (LAN) specifications for wireless transmission. The 802.1x authentication standard identifies wireless users through a protocol on your authentication server known as Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). There are several types of EAP, each giving you various levels of security. Regardless of the EAP you choose, users will benefit from the convenience of single sign-on.
Encryption of 802.1x takes place through temporal key integrity protocol (TKIP). TKIP ensures that every data packet is sent with its own unique encryption key. TKIP scrambles the keys of each packet of data for added security and checks the integrity of the keys to make sure they weren't tampered with during delivery. The encryption capabilities of TKIP, when partnered with the authentication requirements of EAP, provide high levels of wireless network protection.
Encryption levels increase with the 802.11i standard
WPA2 takes security a step further than WPA with the inclusion of 802.11i encryption technology. WPA2 still performs authentication through EAP, but beefs up your encryption capabilities with the addition of Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). AES is the strongest encryption standard supporting 128-bit, 192-bit and 256-bit encryption keys. This far surpasses the 40-bit key introduced with WEP.
Turn to CDW for the best in wireless security
CDW offers a wide selection of wireless security products. Your account manager can explain all of the options to you and help you find the right products.
For more information, contact your account manager, %%AM_FNAME%% %%AM_LNAME%%, at %%AM_PHONE%%.
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