Jennifer Jabbusch's blog

Part II of the Clearing Up 802.1X Series
Securing Multiple Device Authentication on 802.1X

VLANs and Multiple Device Authentication
I always say the road to insecurity is paved with good intentions, and implementations of 802.1X are some of the best examples. I find folks tend to be so excited if-and-when they get 802.1X working, that they don’t bother to put it through the ringer and see what’s actually happening on the switch once it’s working.

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Part I of the Clearing Up 802.1X Series
Multiple Device Authentication and Mixed Authentication

Pure vs Applied 802.1X
There are a couple of issues mentioned in Mike’s and Richard’s posts that I’d like to address with the current 802.1X standard (802.1X-2004) as it relates to multiple device authentication.

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After much poking and prodding from various colleagues and customers, I’m finally hopping back on the blog train.

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With HP ProCurve’s acquisition of wireless provider Colubris, what should the industry expect?

Oh, who knows… but people have asked my opinion, so I’ll share my thoughts, musings and speculations with the masses.

You can find more information and read my initial reactions in Andrew’s write-up of the CRN release ProCurve’s Colubris Buy A ‘Great Move’

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I run into two fundamental problems when I start to talk to customers or audiences about Network Access Control and its related standards and protocols. What are they? Number 1, most folks have no clue what 802.1X actually is. Number 2, for the most part, they don’t really understand what NAC is either.

The fact that they’re such common ‘buzz words’ in today’s IT world makes people hesitant to ask questions. You know we IT-folk don’t like admitting we don’t know everything about anything! However, these are rather simple concepts with extremely complicated components and 98% of the technology world doesn’t really know as much as they’d like to about NAC and 802.1X. You’re not alone.

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We all know it… we all talk about… we all say how ‘bad’ it is. Yes, we know WEP SUCKS - so why are you still using it?

Yes- I’m talking to YOU!

Day after day, we walk into customer sites- almost all of which are under some (or several) compliance mandates- and day after day, I still see WEP being used in production networks. So, why are they still using WEP? Usually just because they haven’t changed. It worked, it was comfortable and it was ‘okay’ when they implemented it.

But, things have changed. Today any 15 year-old with a free utility and a configured wireless card can crack your WEP… in a few minutes. It’s time to update! In case you’ve been hesitant, let’s go over a few reasons why WEP is so bad.

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A Brief History of Wireless Security: Open, WEP, WPA, WPA2 & 802.1X

I shouldn’t be surprised when customers don’t understand our current wireless security options. It’s not their job really; it’s our job to educate them and make educated recommendations, right? Yes. So, here’s a little bit of education- a brief history of wireless security- from open systems to WPA, WPA2 and 802.1X. Portions of this have been skimmed from my 802.1X Training, Wireless Security Module.

I’m hoping to answer the most common questions burning in every IT professionals mind… How did we get here and why are previous solutions now considered insecure? We’ll start from the beginning, and if all goes well, we’ll finish up at the end…

FULL ENTRY

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