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By Bruce Potter, Bob Fleck
December 2002
Pages: 192
ISBN 10: 0-596-00290-4 |
ISBN 13: 9780596002909
(Average of 2 Customer Reviews)
Beginning with an introduction to 802.11b in general, 802.11 Security gives you a broad basis in theory and practice of wireless security, dispelling some of the myths along the way. In doing so, they provide you with the technical grounding required to think about how the rest of the book applies to your specific needs and situations. If you are a network, security, or systems engineer, or anyone interested in deploying 802.11b--based systems, you'll want this book beside you every step of the way.
Full Description
- Station Security for Linux, FreeBSD, Open BSD, Mac OS X and Windows
- Setting Up Access Point Security
- Gateway Security, including building Gateways, firewall Rules, Auditing, etc.
- Authentication and Encryption
- FreeBSD IPsec client and gateway configuration
- Linux IPsec client and gateway configuration
- 802.1x authentication
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Cover | Table of Contents | Index | Sample Chapter | Colophon
Book details
First Edition: December 2002
ISBN: 0-596-00290-4
Pages: 192
Average Customer Reviews: (Based on 2 Reviews)
Featured customer reviews
802.11 Security Review, January 03 2004
Let me start by saying that the book offers several good ideas on security wireless networks and explaining the lower levels of the wifi protocols. Then the disussion bleeds into configuring several different OSes to use WEP and wireless networks. Then security comes. The several OSes that are demonstrated are similar in their configuration. However, many of the methods are non-trivial for those not technically minded.
Furthermore, the book becomes very repeditive explaining the same security measures over and over again.
Chapter 14, which covers higher level encryption, should have gone IN DEPTH with solutions such as IPsec and SSL. Further discussion of SSH tunnels in this chapter would have been welcome as well. Unfortunatly, this chapter comes AFTER examples of setting up network gateways where you would want to incorperate such protocols.
I can not say I would reccommend this book to any other competent system administrator. Had it gone in-depth with high level encryption schemes and deployment examples I would have considered it very valuable.
802.11 Security Review, January 28 2003
I must admit to being somewhat disappointed with his book. In the interest of full disclosure, let me say right up front that I work for a Windows-focused software company that produces a line of Secure Shell (SSH) tools. With that out in the open, my two biggest disappointments are the lack of practical steps Windows users can take to secure a wirelss LAN and their own workstations and the factually incorrect and far too brief discussion of higher level security mechanisms (SSH and SSL) that can be used to secure WiFi traffic.
On the Windows front, the authors fail to provide any substantial documentation (a few screen shots might have been nice) showing how to enable and use WEP (which they correctly recommend in spite of its flaws). The entire section devoted to securing a Windows workstation is only three pages long! I know that general topic O'Reilly titles favor the *NIX world but this is really an imbalance, especially given the number of Windows desktops and laptops out there.
On the SSH front, a scant two pages (seven paragraphs) are devoted to what is arguably one of the cheapest and most effective ways to secure TCP application data - Secure Shell port forwarding. The authors write:
"This (port forwarding) can be useful for accessing one particular service, but is not practical for tunneling many different types of traffic."
Not so. There are a variety of tools, especially on the Windows and Mac OS X platforms that make it extremely easy to configure multiple port forward assignments that are automatically invoked after login and authentication. As I said above, I'm certainly biased on this note... my company makes two clients for the Windows platform that make this a "set-it-and-forget-it" proposition. I forward IMAP, SMTP, a mail pooling application, a corporate calendar, and a bug tracking application all day, every day. Using WiFi both at work and at home (over a cable connection), I have no worries about any of may data being intercepted and/or mangled.
SSH provides a high degree of interoperability between platforms, open source, freeware, and commercial clients and servers, and a high degree of ubiquity compared to other protocols offering the same security (OpenSSH ships with virtually every Linux distribution, Mac OS X, and Solaris). I'd really like to see a few more pages devoted to this topic (including SSL which is given equally brief discussion) in the next edition of this book.
Media reviews
"If you have any experience with CB (Citizen's band) or ham radio, you know that 'wireless security' is an oxymoron. So along come wireless networks, predominantly in the form of 802.11 networks and we are faced with the problem of securing what is inherently an unsecured medium. The book, '802.11 Security' by Bruce Potter and Bob Fleck, is an indispensable guide to taking on this task. to the network much the same way a client plugs into a hub...If you are going to have a wireless network, get this book."
--Gary Smith, Dallas/Fort Worth UNIX Users Group, September 2003
"Another important O'Reilly title is '802.11 Security'...A technical book, but very well written and quite suitable for the informed lay reader."
--Major Keary, "PC Update," December 2003
"Wireless security - an oxymoron? Not necessary with careful planning, configuration, understanding of 802.11 protocols and their weak spots. That is exactly what this tiny neat book provides to the readers – an information on the fundamentals of wireless security and practical solutions for deploying a secure 802.11 network... '802.11 Security' is not just another theoretical book discussing wireless security, but rather a book, which is written in a practical manner that helps the reader to easily setup a secure wireless network. Furthermore, the book covers a wide range of operating systems (Linux/*BSD), which is pretty rare to find in wireless related books.This book is essential for network administrators, system engineers, wireless enthusiasts and people who are willing to deploy a wireless network, especially in a non-Windows environment."
--Ebcvg.com, October 2003
http://www.ebcvg.com/articles.php?id=182
"The book is aimed at security and network engineers, system administrators and general WiFi geeks interested in creating and fortifying secure wireless networks...Although the book presents an overview of Wireless communications and security issues, the focal point is to educate the readers how to setup a secure wireless network by using one of the mentioned operating systems (in client, AP or gateway scenario). By following the installation-specific parts of this publication, majority of inter-mediate readers will surely get enough info on how non-Windows systems can be used in various wireless network deployment phases. Spread over just about 190 pages, '802.11 Security is an easy-to-read technical guide that goes directly to the point and presents the reader with practical step-by-step information on creating a secure and stable wireless network. This book is surely a valuable addition to your bookshelf and will probably inspire you for using Linux or BSD system as your wireless network cornerstone."
--Berislav Kucan, Help Net Security, October 2003
http://www.net-security.org/review.php?id=105
"If you need a good, practical guide to the basics of setting up a wireless network, O'Reilly's '802.11 Security' may be for you...Nearly every wireless security reference will tell you to put a firewall in place behind your wireless network, but '802.11 Security' shows you how...The instructions are quite detailed and the configurations are easy to understand...'802.11 Security' will be invaluable to administrators who need to deploy a small-or medium-scale wireless network on a budget."
--David J. Bianco, Infosec, March 2003
"If you have any interest in comprehensive and detailed knowledge of how 802.11b security works from the network administrator's viewpoint, '802.11 Security' is the book for you. MacMice Rating: 4 out of 5."
--David Weeks, MyMac.com, February 2003
"...a timely compendium of information on the topic for more sophisticated sysadmins."
--Netsurfer Digest, February 2003
"With many users adopting wireless without regard for corporate policy, it borders on negligence to not have this information at hand."
--Peter Coffee, eweek, January 2003
"Doing a good job of wireless network security can get dicey, but blowing the issue off invites regret. Luckily, good help is easy to find. The book '802.11 Security' by network security experts Bruce Potter and Bob Fleck (O'Reilly, $34.95) is a well organized and straightforward resource for both novice and advanced network builders...'802.11 Security' is all the tool you need to keep intruders out of your network."
--Mike Dominowski, Staten Island Advance, January 2003
