Securing Wireless Networks: Hands-On

Frequently Asked Questions

What is this course about? This course provides an intensive, hands-on examination behind the security risks associated with wireless networks, providing the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about the wireless security technologies best suited to meet your organization's needs. Both the practical aspects and underlying theory of wireless security are covered. You learn how to implement the WPA2 and 802.11i security standards, encrypt your wireless traffic using Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) or Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), and deploy wireless intrusion detection systems (WIDS). Who will benefit from this course? This course is valuable for technical professionals, network engineers, security professionals, and those who manage, operate, audit or implement secure networks. What background do I need? It is assumed that you have a fundamental understanding of networking at the level of hubs, switches and routers. A familiarity with the threats that data is subject to as it flows through networks (i.e. eavesdropping), is helpful. Understanding of TCP/IP and knowledge of authentication schemes (RADIUS, TLS, digital certificates), is also helpful. Course 371, Implementing and Troubleshooting Wi-Fi® Networks: Hands-On, provides the background knowledge of wireless technology necessary for this course. Course 468, System and Network Security: A Comprehensive Introduction, is recommended for those with no security background. What is the difference between WPA and 802.11i? WPA was designed by the Wi-Fi Alliance as an interim security solution while the 802.11i standard was being developed by the IEEE. WPA incorporated security protocols that were likely to remain in the final 802.11i standard. The Wi-Fi Alliance is a nonprofit association formed in 1999 to certify the interoperability of WLANs. The WPA solution was widely adopted by WLAN vendors since it provided an immediate enhancement to WLAN security while 802.11i was still incomplete. In the future, the WPA solution will be replaced entirely by the 802.11i standard. The Wi-Fi Alliance refers to 802.11i as WPA2. We've been using VPN solutions in our organization. Are there any alternatives? Yes! Both WPA and 802.11i standards provide robust alternatives to using VPN to protect enterprise wireless networks. Will this course teach me how to protect my wireless network against War Drivers? Yes. War Drivers have received a great deal of media attention of late, and although discovering an access point from the outside can not be prevented, you can secure your network completely from unauthorized access by using the security standards taught in this course. Will this course help me prepare for the CISSP Certification examination? Yes, this course helps you prepare for the CISSP Certification exam. For more information, please refer to the CISSP Q&A. Does this course provide me with (ISC)2 continuing professional education (CPE) credits? Yes! Learning Tree, in agreement with (ISC)2, is a recognized "Trusted CPE Provider." This course provides you with 32 "A-level" CPE credits toward maintaining your CISSP Certification. Please see the CISSP Q&A for more information on the continuing education requirements of (ISC)2. How much time is spent on each topic? Content Hours Wireless security needs and technology 3.5 Responding to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks 2.0 Encrypting for privacy and authentication 3.0 Breaking WEP 4.0 Securing Wi-Fi with WPA-PSK and TKIP 6.0 802.1X authentication and CCMP 6.0 Creating secure WLAN technologies 3.0 Times, including the workshops, are estimates; exact times may vary according to the needs of each class. Do I need a strong encryption background for this course? No. Encryption technology plays a dominant role in wireless security protocols. However, this course provides the necessary background to understand how wireless encryption works, and provides the knowledge required to deploy the various encryption solutions. What kinds of hands-on exercises does this course offer? The course offers a large number of hands-on exercises. Some exercises are designed to demonstrate the security threats in a wireless environment. You will engage in wireless access point detection (war driving), wireless sniffing (eavesdropping), and will crack WEP encryption. Other exercises provide you with the skills to integrate the wide range of wireless security protocols. Wireless access points are configured to authenticate in several ways-using a RADIUS server, digital certificates and shared-key authentication. You also configure a wireless IDS (WIDS). How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses? Learning Tree offers several related courses, including: 371, Implementing and Troubleshooting Wi-Fi® Networks: Hands-On is valuable for those who need to k now how wireless technology works and how to plan, optimize and extend the network beyond short range 468, System and Network Security: A Comprehensive Introduction provides experience in taking the steps to select and deploy the appropriate countermeasures to reduce your exposure to network threats 589, Hands-On Vulnerability Assessment: Protecting Your Organization provides the knowledge and skills required to apply exploits and run vulnerability scans to better secure networks, servers and workstations 537, Ethical Hacking and Countermeasures: Hands-On offers the skills to deploy ethical hacking to expose weaknesses in your organization and select countermeasures 945, Security Information and Event Management: Hands-On provides the knowledge and skills to implement controls and sensors that monitor, limit and contain damaging attacks