Hardening Wireless LAN Connections, Part 2

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This part of the article "Hardening Wireless LAN Connections" covers four main wireless connection methods and how to configure them: WEP, WPA, WPA using RADIUS and VPNs. Also covered is how to harden Windows XP wireless clients. (From the book Hardening Network Infrastructure, by Wesley Noonan (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, ISBN 0072255021.)

Editor's Note: Part one of this chapter covered managing the struggle between security and usability.

Hardening Wireless LAN Connections

All the hardening steps you have undertaken to secure your WAP and define who can connect to it are pointless exercises if you do not also harden the wireless connections themselves. The four main wireless connection methods you need to be aware of and know how to configure are as follows:

 

 

• Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)

• WiFi Protected Access (WPA) using pre-shared keys

• WPA using RADIUS

• Virtual private networks

Heads Up!    A fifth type of wireless connection is the wide-open connection. This connection uses no form of authentication or encryption. Anyone with a wireless card can connect to the WAP and get access to the network. This type of connection is typically used for providing WiFi hotspots. By default, most WAPs ship configured in this manner. The recommendations that follow detail the methods you can use to harden the default configuration.