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IEEE STANDARD AMENDED TO GREATLY ENHANCE WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORK SECURITY
IEEE
802.11i™ to Enable Multi-Vendor, Interoperable and Secure
WLAN Products
Contact:
Stuart J. Kerry, IEEE 802.11 Working Group Chair
+1 408 991 4854, stuart@ok-brit.com
or
Karen McCabe, IEEE Senior Marketing Manager
+1 732 562 3824, k.mccabe@ieee.org
PISCATAWAY,
N.J., USA, 29 July 2004 With the security of information and
access an ongoing concern in the use of wireless local area networks
(WLAN), the IEEE has approved a new amendment that greatly enhances
security in IEEE 802.11™ WLANs. The amendment, IEEE 802.11i™,
will enable WLAN vendors to offer highly secure wireless network
interface cards, access points and other products.
"IEEE 802.11i was developed by leading experts in network
security to give end users and network administrators a high level
of assurance that the integrity of their networks and data will
not be compromised," said Stuart J. Kerry, Chair of the IEEE
802.11 standards committee.
IEEE 802.11i, "Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and
Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications: Medium Access Control (MAC)
Security Enhancement," leverages security technology that
has emerged since the original IEEE 802.11 standard was written
in the late 1990s. These developments include the Advanced Encryption
Standard (AES) and the IEEE 802.1X™ standard for access control.
"We wrote this amendment to support the wide range of users
whose systems extend from small and simple units to large, complex
networks," said David Halasz, Chair of the IEEE 802.11i Task
Group.
The amendment allows for security improvements in existing wireless
LAN products (through firmware upgrades). Most current products
can be upgraded to use certain IEEE 802.11i features, such as
Temporal Key Integrity Protocol and IEEE 802.1x authentication.
This provides a considerable security improvement over the Wired
Equivalent Privacy feature in the original standard. The amendment
also contains options for backward compatibility with the original
standard.
Even greater security can be gained in new products having new
hardware architecture. Products coming on the market will be able
to use the most advanced features of IEEE 802.11i, such as AES
methods, key caching and pre-authentication for persistent authentication,
which allows mobile stations to switch from one access point to
another without incurring the time overhead of a key exchange
each time.
"These and other enhancements in the amendment should assure
that IEEE 802.11i-based wireless LAN products can meet the demanding
security goals of the growing range of IEEE 802.11 WLAN applications
expected in the future," Kerry said.
IEEE 802.11 standards form a family of specifications that define
how WLAN equipment should be produced so equipment from different
manufacturers can work together. IEEE 802.11i was developed by
the IEEE 802.11 Working Group, which is sponsored by the IEEE
802® LAN/MAN Standards Committee of the IEEE Computer Society.
For further information, visit: http://www.ieee802.org.
About the
IEEE Standards Association
The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA), a global standards-setting
body, develops consensus standards through an open process that
brings diverse parts of an industry together. It has a portfolio
of more than 870 completed standards and more than 400 in development.
IEEE-SA promotes the engineering process by creating, developing,
integrating, sharing and applying knowledge about electro- and
information technologies and sciences for the benefit of humanity
and the profession. For further information on IEEE-SA visit:
http://standards.ieee.org/.
About the
IEEE
The IEEE has more than 380,000 members in approximately 150 countries.
Through its members, the organization is a leading authority on
areas ranging from aerospace, computers and telecommunications
to biomedicine, electric power and consumer electronics. The IEEE
produces nearly 30 percent of the world's literature in the electrical
and electronics engineering, computing and control technology
fields. This nonprofit organization also sponsors or cosponsors
more than 300 technical conferences each year. Additional information
about the IEEE can be found at http://www.ieee.org/.
IEEE P802.11i
and 802.11 are trademarks of the IEEE. All other names or product
names are the trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks
of their respective holders.
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