Wired vs. Wireless Network Security
Network security has two major components, confidentiality and access control. Confidentiality makes certain that information cannot be viewed by unauthorized people. Access control makes certain that only authorized users can gain access to the network. Both wired and wireless networks have different implementations of these.
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Wireless Confidentiality
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Making an unauthorized copy of packets on the network allows an intruder to breach confidentiality. Wireless networks broadcast packets in radio waves that can be received by anyone. Wireless networks must encrypt packets to keep them secure. Wired Equivalent Privacy, or WEP, can easily be broken and should be avoided. Wi-Fi Protected Access, or WPA, is far superior to WEP and should be used whenever possible.
Wired Confidentiality
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An intruder must have physical access to a wired network in order to copy information from the network. Access controls are usually good enough to prevent unauthorized snooping of packets on a wired network. Encryption is possible, but less frequently used on wired networks.
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Wireless Access Controls
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Wireless networks require that a user know the name of the network, called the Service Set Identifier, or SSID, and the WPA passphrase. If the WPA passphrase is kept secret, unauthorized users cannot gain access to the network.
Wired Access Controls
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Unauthorized access in wired networks can have additional controls by using IEEE 802.1x Port-Based Network Access Control. This requires a user enter a password when a computer is physically connected to the network. It is possible to use 802.1x on wireless networks, but it is not a common practice.
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