Wireless LANs gain better security spec

Corporate fears about wireless LAN (WLAN) security may be quelled by the Wi-Fi Alliance's decision to improve security and encryption interoperability for a number of 802.11-based products.

The Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) standard is designed to replace the Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) security protocol, which tests have shown is far too easy to hack. WPA fixes WEP's cryptographic weaknesses through the use of Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP), which assigns different encryption keys for each packet of data transmitted, as well as carrying out integrity checks and authentication.

WPA will now be integrated as standard into many new WLAN products, and vendors said they will add WPA upgrades to their 802.11 kit. However, the WPA standard is only one part of the IEEE's broader 802.11i specification, which is to be ratified in the summer, and many firms may wait for that before investing in new wireless LAN equipment.

"WPA is certainly a possible option for securing WLANs, but some organisations might prefer to wait for 802.11i since it incorporates the AES encryption scheme," said Angelo Lamme of 3Com's wireless connectivity division.

Firms not wanting to wait for 802.11i should make sure that any WPA-enabled equipment they buy now will be hardware upgradable to 802.11i at a later date.

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See also:

Wireless LANs

Exploring wireless networking technology and its business applications  08 Aug 2003

Security fears stall Wi-Fi growth

Market slowed by wireless security anxieties, but smaller companies less concerned  19 May 2003

Welcome to the Wi-Fi Zone

Wi-Fi Alliance establishes new security and interoperability standards  14 May 2003

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