Wireless Security - Managing the Liability
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) are transforming enterprise networks with high speed connections across the airwaves that cost effectively extend the boundaries of the conventional wired network and enhance productivity.
WLAN - Risk vs. Reward
The airborne nature of the 802.11 WLAN opens it to intruders and attacks that can come from any direction. Often times an intruder's physical presence within the confines of your facility is not necessary, when the parking lot next door will do. WLAN are vulnerable to intruders and hackers who:
- Listen to the airwaves and eavesdrop on unencrypted messages or crack the encryption
- Steal an authorized user's identity and gain access to the entire network
- Launch Denial of Service (DoS) attacks that cripple the WLAN by jamming or flooding the airwaves
The landscape of today's wireless environment is confusing and complicated. The alphabet soup of IEEE Standards and Authentication methods make security decisions and strategies difficult to achieve. Only in best case, homogeneous situations can manufacturer's security offerings work to meet the concerns and demands of today's business environment.
What does Wireless Security look like?
Companies are deploying firewalls and VPN gateways to secure the WLAN traffic once it reaches the wired network. While this is a good start, the real danger lies in the airwaves. Encryption and authentication of WLAN traffic is essential, but WLANs also require monitoring and defenses to identify and respond to new threats unique to WLANs.
Next Level Solutions' primary goal is to deliver turnkey wireless solutions based on secure, reliable, and best in class hardware and services available. Utilizing our fundamental knowledge of wireless technology, Next Level delivers a security solution that protects your wireless network by monitoring and analyzing WLAN traffic to discover network vulnerabilities, protect against intruders and attacks, enforce network policies, and manage the network to maximize performance.
Next Level Solutions embraces a philosophy based on supporting the individual needs of various 802.11 networks with WLAN security solutions that can begin by serving small WLAN deployments and scale to support enterprise WLANs with hundreds of access points and thousands of clients.
Let's Get Specific...
Our evaluation and process of a reliable security solution begins and ends with the customer's best interests in mind. We choose from a variety of "Best in Class" solutions to determine the best fit for the problem presented. The criterion that we insure is the following:
- Authentication Methods
- Wireless Encryption
- Multiple Gateways
- Policy Management
- Wireless Network Management
- Ease of Use
- Scalability
- Public Access
- IP Address Assignment
Where does one start?
To fully realize the benefits of the investment in a wireless infrastructure, they must be secure, flexible, and easy to manage. At Next Level Solutions we strive to provide Wireless Security Solutions that are agnostic to standards, work in your existing environment and ensure compatibility with the technologies of the future.
Our process begins with a Security Audit and Performance Assessment. This is a procedure that evaluates your current or planned wireless architecture for optimum performance, shapes signals to cover only the areas intended, and flush out unauthorized users or Rogue Access Points. A comprehensive deliverable is then created to provide the customer with complete plan of action to address the found concerns.
Hardware alone does not simply solve security problems. Careful attention to proper installation, integration, and management are all integral parts of a successful ongoing security strategy. Next Level's commitment to the customer is to advise in the selection of the Best in Class hardware, install this equipment as component of a comprehensive strategy, and create the cultural understanding of ongoing practices.
To learn more, contact your NLS Sales Representative today