RSA two-factor SecureID protects Wireless LANs

By Bernard Cole
iApplianceWeb
(01/09/03, 11:10:25 PM EDT)

Bedford, MA. - RSA Security Inc. has added new features into its SecurID two-factor authentication framework that enables enhanced protection in wireless local area network (WLAN) environments.

The two-factor authentication scheme that RSA uses is based on a time-synchronous methodology that combines a token or smart card with a secret PIN.

Without the proper security measures in place, wireless connectivity will continue to be a major risk until more robust authentication protocols are adopted. Now, by securing WLANs with the proven solution for two-factor user authentication, organizations can realize the full benefits of WLANs -- including cost reduction and productivity enhancement -- while reducing the risk of exposing mission-critical data and resources to unauthorized access.

WLAN is viewed as a critical business tool because the technology represents an ideal way to link users -- of PCs, laptops, PDAs and other mobile devices -- to the Internet and internal networks without hard-wired connections.

However, with the enhanced mobility of wireless networks also comes serious security threats, because any confidential data that is flowing over these networks -- including financial transactions, credit card numbers and proprietary company information -- can be easily exposed or compromised if not properly secured.

User authentication in a WLAN environment is typically done through the use of weak, static passwords that are particularly vulnerable to hacking. This prevents organizations from using their WLANs for critical business purposes, limiting their effectiveness. With the two factor user authentication technique used in the SecurID, weak passwords with strong, two-factor user authentication.

While the the IEEE 802.1x standard was proposed to solve authentication challenges in wireless LANs, it does not address the serious problems resulting from a lack of access point and end user authentication -- leading to the well publicized “man-in-the-middle” and session hijacking attacks.

Written by Cisco, Microsoft and RSA Security and approved by the IETF standards board, the new protocol called the Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP) standard addresses both of these concerns. It is designed to easily plug into products based on 802.1x to provide both strong user authentication and access point authentication.

RSA Security is partnering with many of the key WLAN vendors to enable them to use this protocol, as well as other protocols such as EAP-TTLS, in a way that interoperates with RSA Security's technologies and products, including RSA SecurID two-factor authentication.

For more about this story, go to www.rsasecurity.com.

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