Cyber-Security: Wireless

Wireless networking technology was first used by the US military during World War II to transmit data over an RF medium using classified encryption technology to send battle plans across enemy lines

The Spread Spectrum Radio Technologies often used in today’s WLANs were originally patented during the era of World War II, although they were not implemented until almost two decades later.

Developed in the 1970s by the University of Hawaii, it was the first wireless network, used to wirelessly communicate data between the Hawaiian Islands.

The technology used in ALOHAnet is often credited as a building block for the Medium Access Control (MAC) technologies of Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection used in Ethernet and Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance used in 802.11 radios

In the 1990s, commercial networking vendors began to produce low-speed wireless data networking products, most of which operated in the 900 MHz frequency band.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers began to discuss standardizing WLAN technologies in 1991

In 1997, the IEEE ratified the original 802.11 standard that is the foundation of the WLAN technologies

In 1999, the IEEE defined higher data speeds with the 802.11b amendment. The introduction of data rates as high as 11 Mbps, along with the price decreases, ignited the sales of wireless home networking routers in the small office, home office (SOHO) marketplace.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates communications within the United States as well as communications to and from the United States. The FCC is responsible for regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable.

The FCC regulates two types of spectrum. The licensed and unlicensed spectrum. The difference being that unlicensed users do not have to do through the license application procedures before they can install a wireless system. Both Licensed and unlicensed communications are typically regulated in the following areas :

Frequency
Bandwidth
Maximum power of the intentional radiator (IR)
Maximum equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP)
Spectrum sharing rules

The United Nations has tasked the International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) with global spectrum management. The ITU-R strives to ensure interference free communications on land, sea, and in the skies.

The ITU-R maintains a database of worldwide frequncy assignments through five administrative regions.

Region A : The Americas 
Region B : Western Europe
Region C : Eastern Europe and Northern Asia
Region D : Africa
Region E : Asia and Australasia

In addition to the five administrative regions, the ITU-R defines three radio regulartory regions. These three regions are defined geographically, as show in the following list :

Region 1 : Europe, Middle East, and Africa
Region 2 : Americas
Region 3 : Asia and Oceania

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, commonly known as the IEEE, is a global professional society with around 400,000 members in 160 countries. The IEEE’s mission is to “foster technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity”. The IEEE is best known for its LAN standards, the IEEE 802 project.

The Internet Engineering Task Force, commonly known as the IETF, is an international community of people in the networking industry whose goal is to make the Internet work better. The mission of the IETF, as defined by the organization in a document known as the RFC 3935, is “to produce high quality, relevant technical and engineering documents that influence the way people design, use, and manage the Internet in such a way as to make the Internet work better. These documents include protocol standards, best current practices, and information documents of various kinds.”

The IETF is broken into eight subject matter areas :

• Applications

• General

• Internet

• Operations and Management

• Real-Time Applications

• Infrastructure

• Routing

• Security

• Transport

The results of an IETF working group is usually the creation of a document known as Request for Comments (RFC). Contrary to its name, an RFC is not actually a request for comments, but a statement or definition. Most RFCs describe network protocols, services or policies and may evolve into an Internet Standard. RFCs are numbered sequentially, and once a number is assigned, it is never reused. At the top of the RFC document, it states whether the RFC is updated by another RFC and also if it makes any other RFCs obsolete.

The Wi-Fi Alliance is a global, nonprofit industry association of more than 550 member companies devoted to promoting the growth of WLANs. One of the primary tasks of the Wi-Fi Alliance is to market the Wi-Fo brand and raise consumer awareness of the new 802.11 technologies as they become available. The Wi-Fi Alliance, originally named the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA), founded in 1999, had its name changed to Wi-Fi alliance in 2002

The core technology and security program certifies 802.11a, b, g, n, and/or ac interoperability to ensure that the essential wireless data transmission works as expected. Each device is tested according to its capabilities.

802.11a - 5 GHz - 54 Mbps
b - 2.4 GHz - 11  Mbps
g - 2.4 GHz - 54 Mbps
n - 2.4 GHz or 5GHz - 450 Mbps
ac - 5 GHz - 1.3 Gbps

Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM) is based on the QoS mechanisms that were originally defined in the IEEE 802.11e amendment. WMM enables Wi-Fi networks to prioritize traffic generated by different applications. In a network where WMM is supported by both the access point and the client device , traffic generated by time-sensitive applications such as voice or video can be prioritized for transmission on the half-duplex RF medium.

WMM Power Save (WMM-PS) helps conserve bettery power for devices using Wi-Fi radios by managing the time the client device spends in sleep mode.

Wi-Fi Protected Setup defines simplified and automatic WPA and WPA2 security configurations for home and small-business users.

Wi-Fi Direct enables Wi-Fi devices to connect directly without the use of an access point, making it easier to print, share, sync, and display. Wi-Fi Direct is ideal for mobile phones, cameras, printers, PCs, and gaming devices needing to establish a one-to-one connection, or even connecting a small gruop of devices.

Converged Wireless Group-RF Profile (CWG-RF) was develpoed jointly by the Wi-Fi Alliance and the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA), now known as The Wireless Association. CWG-RF defines performance metrics for Wi0Fi and cellular radios in a converged handset to help ensure that both technolgoes perform well in the presence of the other.

Voice Personal offers enhanced support for voice applications in residential and small-business Wi-Fi networks, These networks include one access point, mixed voice and data traffic from multiple devices, and support for up to four concurrent phone calls,

Voice Enterprise offers enhanced support for voice applications in enterprise Wi-Fi networks. Enterprise-grade voice qeuipment must provide consistently good voice quality under all network load conditions and coexist with data traffic.

Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) enables devices to establish secure links directly with other devies after they have joined a traditional Wi-Fi network. This will allow consumer devices such as TVs, gaming devices, smartphones, cameras, and printers to communicate quickly, easily, and securely between each other.

Passpoint is designed to revolutionize the end user expierince when connecting to Wi-Fi hotspots. This will be done by automatically identifying the hotspot connecting to it, automatically authenticating the user to the network using Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), and providing secure transmission using WPA2-Enterprise encryption.

WMM-Admission Control allows Wi-fi networks to manage network traffic based upon channel conditions, network traffic, load, and type of traffic (voice, video, best effort data, or background data). The access point allows only the traffic that it can support to the network, based upon the available network resources.

IBSS with Wi-Fi Protected Setup provides easy configuration and strong security for ad hoc (peer-to-peer) Wi-Fi networks. This is designed for mobile products and devices that have a limited user interface, such as smartphones, cameras, and media players.

Miracast seamlessly integrates the display of streaming video content between devices. Wireless links are used to replace wired connections. Devices are designed to identify and connect with each other, manage their connections, and optimize the transmission of video content.

The International Organization for Standardization, commonly known as the ISO, is a global, nongovernmental organization that identifies business, government, and social needs and develops standards in partnership with the sectors that will put them to use. The ISO is responsible for the creation of the Open Systems Interconnections (OSI) model, which has been a standard reference for data communications between computers since the late 1970s.

The Core of the network is the high-speed backbone or the superhighway of the network. The goal of the core is to carry a large amount of information between key data centers or distribution areas, just as superhighways connect cities and metropolitan areas.
The core layer does not route traffic or manipulate packets but rather performs high-speed switching. Redundant solutions are usually designed at the core layer to ensure the fast and reliable delivery of packets. The distribution layer of the network routes or directs traffic toward the smaller clusters of nodes or neighborhoods of the network. The distribution layer routes traffic between virtual LANs (VLANs) and subnets. The distribution layer is akin to the state and county roads that provide medium travel speeds and distribute the traffic within the city or metropolitan area. The access layer of the network is responsible for slower delivery of the traffic directly to the end-user or end node. The access layer mimics the local roads and neighborhood streets that are used to reach your final address. The access layer ensures the final delivery of packets to the end-user. Remember that speed is a relative concept.

The purpose of Wireless Bridge Links is to connect two separate, wired networks wirelessly.