Recommendations for wireless network security policy: an analysis and classification of current and emerging threats and solutions for different organisations

Since their inception, 802.11 wireless networks have been plagued by a wide range of security problems. These problems relate to both data security and denial of service attacks, and there have been many solutions created by different vendors address these problems. However, the number of different types of attack, and the many possible solutions, makes it a difficult task to put in place an appropriate wireless network security policy. Such a policy must address both the size and nature of the enterprise, and the resources available to it. Measures such as WEP and MAC filtering are only appropriate for home users, and WPA should be used instead. Larger organisations can benefit from using 802.1x/EAP, RADIUS authentication and AES encryption. However, the wireless segment of a network should always be considered unsafe.