As with any hot topic, there are lots of people willing
(eager!) to
tell you about the security of wireless local area networks,
without
first making sure that they really know the subject.
Part
one is an introduction to wireless LANs. Chapter one
is a
history of networks, an outline of topologies (concentrating
on
cabling, interestingly enough), and a review of the TCP/IP
(actually
OSI, [Open Systems Interconnection] protocol stack. The
last page
gives too little information for an exercise in setting
up a home LAN.
Terms in regard to wireless technology are listed in
chapter two, but
the material is verbose without being informative. The
explanations
given for spectrum multiplexing are unclear, and seem
to be delivered
by rote without any understanding. The discussion does
not build on
that from chapter one to, for example, point out that
ad hoc wireless
networks are similar to bus topologies, while infrastructure
networks
are more akin to stars. The various IEEE (Institute of
Electrical and
Electronics Engineers) 802.11 standards are listed in
chapter three.
However, there is a great deal of material repeated from
prior text
(the discussion of spectrum is reprised almost word for
word), and,
other than some frequency and maximum bandwidth information,
there is
little additional detail. (Repetition and duplication
is rife
throughout the book, as well as a good deal of space
wasted with pointless figures and graphics. On page 125 we are told
that "The 40-
bit shared key is concatenated with a 24-bit long initialization
vector" and referred to figure 6.1. Figure 6.1 tells
us"
Concatenated-Key = Shared-Key + IV." Not very helpful.)
Chapter
four is supposed to help you decide whether a wireless
LAN is right
for you, but only has some vague opining, a little content
on wireless
ISPs (Internet Service Providers: hardly suitable for
LAN
discussions), and almost no analysis or details.
Part two purports
to emphasize secure wireless LANs. Chapter five has
random topics regarding network security. Most of it
is irrelevant to
the specific needs of wireless situations or is not discussed
in terms
of the particular needs of wireless networks. (Physically
securing
the components of a wireless LAN has some importance
in overall
security, but may be pointless if someone driving by
can take over the
network). Securing the IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN is not
reviewed well
in chapter six. There is more duplication of content,
few details
about WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), and some clear
evidence of
misunderstanding of the base technologies. (If you are
going to talk
about 40 bit keys at the low level, higher level security
should be
104, rather than 128, bit. And a 128 bit key is *not*
equivalent to
64 characters, in anybody's representation.) When security
aspects
are discussed, often they relate to issues that are beyond
the control
of the user, such as moderation of signal strength.
Part three
collects topics related to the building of secure wireless
LANs. Chapter seven is a simplistic overview of generic
LAN planning.
Shopping for the right equipment is important, but the
list of product
specifications in chapter eight fails to address vital
areas, such as
driver availability, default key length, and the existence
of default
accounts. More space is devoted to where you can buy
equipment than
how to evaluate it. The installation instructions, in
chapter nine,
pretty much ignore security considerations. Chapter ten
supposedly
deals with advanced wireless LANs, including security,
but has little
new material aside from screenshots of Microsoft Windows
utilities
with some relationship to VPNs (Virtual Private Networks).
Part four
covers troubleshooting and maintenance. Chapter eleven
touches on a number of possibly wireless connectivity
problems. A
collection of text repeated from prior chapters is in
chapter twelve.
There
is a glossary included with the book. It is quite limited,
and,
in particular, does not deal well with acronyms. In fact,
the book is
full of TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) and other abbreviations
that get
used before they are defined, and do not appear in either
the glossary
or the index. This can be quite aggravating, particularly
in cases
where the acronyms aren't standard. (The authors use "PHY" to
refer
to the physical layer of the OSI model, which is not
commonly so
represented in either communications or security literature.)
The text of
the book is excessively padded with useless verbiage
and
irrelevant material. The actual content pertinent to
the security of
wireless LANs is barely enough to fill a decent magazine
article.
Overall, the book is poorly structured, limited in detail,
and bloated
with meaningless or repetitious content.
copyright, Robert M. Slade, 2003 BKBSWNW8.RVW 20030208
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