Wireless

Meru has launched security software that can jam radio signals from rogue access points and scramble genuine signals to make it harder for hackers to overhear them.

"We offer radio jamming and scrambling, without changing anything on the client," said Joel Vincent, Meru's director of marketing. "It's layered on top of standard protection."

Despite years of development, the Wi-Fi security standards still leave possible gaps, said Vincent. Meru's architecture, he said, allows RF security that cannot be easily deployed on other systems.

If your organization has ever investigated WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) or WPA2 for securing its wireless infrastructure, the terms '802.1X' and 'EAP' (Extensible Authentication Protocol) will come up frequently. Both WPA and WPA2 are Wi-Fi Alliance standards based on IEEE 802.11i, a wireless security standard that dramatically improves upon the very insecure WEP (Wireless Equivalent Privacy).

At the ShmooCon gathering in Washington, D.C., today, old-school hacker and mischief maker Mark "Simple Nomad" Loveless released information on a staggeringly simple but very dangerous wireless security problem with a feature built into most laptop computers running any recent version of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Most of us in the business world today, especially those who travel, can't live without our laptops and readily available Wi-Fi connections. All new laptops today have Wi-Fi built in as a default configuration, and if you want one without such wireless capability, it's a special order. Our world has certainly changed.

Enterprise Wi-Fi deployments often focus on the services provided to in-building or on-site users while mostly ignoring the company's mobile workforce. Laptops, smartphones and PDAs have received significant press attention regarding virus vulnerabilities and corporate risk as a result of physical loss. Mobile device management products such as iAnywhere's Afaria and Intellisync's Systems Management do provide access security as well as operating system and application management policies, but the wireless-specific aspects of most portable devices have not been addressed.

Kurt Peterson knows how to pick his Wi-Fi . "I go anywhere I can get it for free," he says. "Why should I pay? Enough people do it for free."

Peterson, a Los Angeles union organizer, has been spotted, laptop in hand, cellphone dangling from ear, at a Panera Bread store near Los Angeles International Airport.

Panera, like Schlotzsky's Deli, Krystal restaurants and other independent cafes, libraries, parks and a growing number of cities, offers free wireless Internet access. No strings attached.

Security has been the most often-cited reason why enterprise customers have deferred installation of wireless LANs. Those concerns were justified when the only security option was the rather anemic Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), but the IEEE and the Wi-Fi Alliance have since developed far more comprehensive security solutions: Wi-Fi Protected Access and IEEE 802.11i. (802.11i compliance is called "WPA2 Certified" by the Wi-Fi Alliance.) The peculiar thing is that the security establishment doesn't seem to believe in them.

Attacks on wireless LANs (WLANs) and wireless-enabled laptops are a quick and easy way for hackers to steal data and enter the corporate network. IT departments must have a pre-emptive plan of action to prevent these malicious and illegal attacks, which compromise an organization’s data privacy and can wreak havoc on network infrastructure.

Hurricane-ravaged New Orleans is starting the nation's first free wireless Internet network owned and run by a major city, a move aimed at boosting the city's stalled economy.

Mayor Ray Nagin made the announcement at a late morning news conference.

Similar projects elsewhere have been stalled by stiff opposition from telephone and cable television companies aimed at discouraging competition from public agencies.

Today’s sophisticated mobile devices can expose the wireless network to the same security vulnerabilities that have plagued conventional wired networks. Denial of service (DoS) attacks, the interception and disclosure of sensitive data, and unauthorized network access are just the beginning.

As mobile technology becomes more widespread and evolves to support ever-more sophisticated business and personal applications, the security threats will only increase—making security of the wireless network infrastructure a key consideration and differentiator for service providers.