Windows XP Unwired

Wi-Fi Security

Now that I have discussed the three ways to secure your wireless connection, I’ll dive deep into the details of Wi-Fi security. A secure network should (ideally) have the following:

Authentication

This is the process of verifying the identity of a user and making sure that she is who she claims. When you log in to your Windows computer, you are being authenticated via the username and password. In a Wi-Fi network, authentication comes into play when the access point has to determine whether a machine can connect to it.

Authorization

This is the process of allowing or denying access to a specific resource. You may be authenticated as a user, but you may not be authorized to use certain feature perhaps due to your user role (such as Guest, User, Power User, Administrator). For example, suppose you are at a wireless hotspot and have used up your allotted connection time: the network knows who you are, but won’t authorize you to access the Internet until you pay for more minutes.

Confidentiality

This ensures the privacy of information that is being transmitted. Only an authorized party (such as the recipient of an email message) can see the information being transmitted. In a Wi-Fi network, confidentiality is supported by protocols such as WEP, WPA, and 802.1X, which encrypt the data that moves through the air.

Integrity

This ensures that the information that you have transmitted has not been tampered with en route to its destination.

Authentication, authorization, confidentiality, ...