Wireless LAN networking: Use it

MAC (media access control) addressing restricts network access to authorized devices by assigning each network card a unique hardware identification number. The network access point can be programmed to communicate only with approved MAC addresses, and it maintains these approved addresses in a password-protected table. Any attempts to access the wireless network by devices with unauthorized MAC addresses are denied.

You shouldn't purchase a network access point that doesn't have support for MAC addressing, and of course be sure you enable MAC addressing once you have the access point up and running. Quality access points like those available from HP will always have support for MAC addressing.

Once they access the network, wireless products use the WEP (wired equivalent privacy or wireless encryption protocol) protocol to keep your data transmission safe from prying eyes. The WEP standard delivers the same security associated with traditional wired networks. It is essentially a complicated software algorithm that scrambles data as it is sent and unscrambles it as soon as it is received, keeping it safe in transit.

The down side to WEP encryption is that hackers are already beginning to learn how to hack through it and access networks. However, future wireless protocols will eventually replace WEP. When you evaluate access points and wireless network cards, be sure that you can upgrade them easily as new wireless access standards emerge.

For example, you will be able to be upgrade HP's wireless software and hardware as new security methods are tested and become standard. You won't have to invest in new hardware or software, just a bit of your time to run the installation utilities that will bring the hardware and software in your wireless network up to the newest security level.

The best practice in wireless network security is to begin your security efforts at the front door to the network. You can use Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology to control which users outside of your system have access to it. A VPN is nothing more than a gateway to your network that authorized users who are on the outside (because they are not in the building or working from home for example) have to pass through before they can access any part of your network, wired or otherwise. Before anyone gets to your wireless network, they should have to log onto your VPN and pass its authentication requirements.

Organizations that allow remote access to networks almost always use VPN to control that remote access, so VPN isn't a new technology and there are many resources and tools available to help you get one set up. Don't see a VPN as a barrier to a wireless network, but rather as a common component any network that allows outside access should include. Combined with MAC addresses and either WEP or new wireless LAN protocols, VPN can make your wireless network extremely secure.