Cisco Wireless LAN Security

Expert Guidance for Securing Your 802.11 Networks

As time goes on, more companies are embracing, rather than banning, wireless technology. More devices are going wireless and new wireless standards are increasing both the speed and the range of wireless data. Network administrators need to understand the risks and weaknesses of wireless networks and put in the necessary controls and procedures to protect data on the wireless network. This book will help you understand wireless technology and secure your wireless LAN.

About The Book

Occupying just under 400 pages, the text of Cisco Wireless LAN Security packs a great deal of information into a relatively short book. Here is a look at the Contents of the book:

• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Securing WLANs Overview
• Chapter 2: Basic Security Mechanics and Mechanisms
• Chapter 3: WLAN Standards
• Chapter 4: WLAN Fundamentals
• Chapter 5: WLAN Basic Authentication and Privacy Methods
• Chapter 6: Wireless Vulnerabilities
• Chapter 7: EAP Authentication Protocols for WLANs
• Chapter 8: WLAN Encryption and Data Integrity Protocols
• Chapter 9: SWAN: End-to-End Security Deployment
• Chapter 10: Design Guidelines for Secure WLAN
• Chapter 11: Operational and Design Considerations for Secure WLANs
• Chapter 12: WLAN Security Configuration Guidelines and Examples
• Chapter 13: WLAN Deployment Examples
• Appendix A: Resources and References
• Index

You can see from this list that the authors spend some time laying down the framework or discussing the fundamentals of wireless network design and wireless security, but that they invest a great deal of time providing detaild design and configuration explanations and discussing the details of wireless LAN security.

My Review

The four authors of Cisco Wireless LAN Security do an excellent job of striking a balance between writing concise enough that the book is not overwhelming, but detailed enough for the reader to truly understand the subject matter. Not an easy task.

The book is titled Cisco Wireless LAN Security, which might actually make some people shy away from it, but the Cisco part is a bit of a misnomer. Some of the information and examples are Cisco-centric, but the majority of the information in the book is vendor-neutral and should be understood and applied on just about any wireless network.

The beginning chapters provide an excellent framework for those new to wireless LAN technology, but it quickly moves beyond that to much deeper and more complex subjects within wireless LAN security.

The discussion of wireless vulnerabilities and on wireless security techniques helps you gain an understanding that you can take away from the book and apply to your unique situation. The configuration samples and examples throughout the book are excellent.

I don't recommend that someone new to wireless networks pick this up, but anyone tasked with protecting or securing a wireless LAN should definitely use this book as a resource.