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security

Wireless Security, Things you need to know

Security is an area of concern for those considering the use of fixed wireless devices to yransmit data. Because fixed wireless bridges transmit signals into the “air,” the perception has been that anyone could receive and possibly “steal” the user’s data.

Password Protection

The Emergence network includes two levels of password protection with one for monitoring and traffic analysis via SNMP and a second password providing monitor/modify privileges. This dual-level password protection enables engineering staff in the field to monitor performance and check diagnostics while keeping critical information restricted.

Transmission Protection

The Emergence bridge transmission signal is so unique that it requires another Emergence bridge to receive and decode the signal. The Ethernet and T1/E1 traffic (along with associated control & monitoring information for the link) is assembled in a proprietary framing structure and sent to the receiving Emergence bridge. The data remains encoded until it is received and disassembled by the Emergence Bridge at the other end.

Data is scrambled in a nearly random pattern prior to transmission and subsequently processed by a Forward Error Correction encoder before being sent. This encoder adds specific bits of data to the information being transmitted: bits that are subsequently processed by the receiving bridge to insure data integrity. These bits appear to be random but are actually used to correct errors in transmission and maintain 1x10-12 BER.

One basic tenet of the fixed wireless technology used by Emergence is the requirement for “line of sight.” The Emergence Bridges transmitting and receiving antennae communicate through a relatively narrow radio frequency (RF) beam. This directional point-to-point RF approach is in stark contrast to some omni-directional antennae used in “mobile” environments where anyone in the vicinity could receive the signal. With the Emergence network, only an antenna firmly in the focused RF target area could receive information. By its very nature, the Emergence point-to-point wireless technology minimizes the opportunity for intrusion.

Data Coding

One of the most powerful aspects of the Emergence networks security features is data coding. Potential intruders would have to obtain a unique data transmission code sequence set by the network architecture team. Emergence bridges provide a binary security function that can provide up to 24x10 8 security coding for data being transmitted (2x10-8 for our 10 Mbps Wireless Ethernet Bridge models). This coding is set by the network architecture team and can be changed in a secure fashion using a web browser (HTTPS) or via SNMP by the Emergence Network Management team. If someone attempted to break an emergence bridges security coding, it is estimated that it would take about 45 million years to try all of the possible codes (assuming about 5 seconds for the perpetrator to change codes and check for data).

The sending Emergence bridge “handshakes” with the receiving bridge, at one second intervals, to verify that the user-assigned code matches. To protect this code further, the code is sent – not in clear text – but in an encoded fashion. If the code comparison does not match, then the sending bridge immediately terminates transmission, causing any IP or T1/E1 traffic to cease flowing in either direction. At any time, through the use of SNMP and/or HTTPS, the Emergence network management team can change the security code remotely in order to add another level of protection.

Enhanced Security Options

Additional options can be added to Emergence’s security framework to further encrypt the data stream. Options such as a DES (Data Encryption Standard) device can provide two levels of encryption with either a 56-bit or 168-bit key dependant upon customer requirements. Configurations including such products require a device at each end of the link to affect the data portion of the Ethernet packets.

Emergence Wireless Bridges and 802.11: Apples & Oranges

The IEEE standard for wireless LAN communications, 802.11, was recently featured in the news when the Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol used by 802.11 was discovered to have flaws. These flaws left the 802.11 technologies vulnerable to attacks that could decrypt traffic. The 802.11 technologies is used predominately in point-to-multipoint applications such as wireless LAN connectivity for PCs and local LAN devices.

Emergence Wireless Ethernet Bridges are different than the devices impacted by 802.11 because our design focus has been and continues to be on point-to-point communications rather than point-to-multipoint communications. The products that we use adhere to 802.3 standards and use a different security scheme than used by 802.11 devices. The proprietary nature of Emergence technology precludes challenges such as that encountered by 802.11 and WEP technology.