User guide

Network Security  93
Appendix A
Network Security Concepts
This appendix contains background information for anyone needing a better
understanding of the concepts and protocols that show how Odyssey Access Client
operates in a network, particularly from the standpoint of network security and
authentication.
Network Security
Most organizations can rely on physical security to protect their wired networks. An
attacker would have to be physically inside company offices to plug in to the LAN
and generate or observe network traffic.
With wireless networks, a person can use a wireless adapter and a laptop computer
to access a network, even from a location outside of the building.
Odyssey Access Client provides you with the ability to make secure network
connections using protocols that adhere to one or more of these sets of standards:
 IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) standards for wireless
LANs. These include 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g. See “802.11 Wireless
Networking” on page 96.
 IEEE 802.11i enhancements to 802.11. These were introduced to overcome
some of the security weaknesses of 802.11.
 The Wi-Fi Alliance second generation of Wi-Fi protected access. Wi-Fi protected
access 2 (WPA2) (with advanced encryption standard (AES) encryption) adheres
to the strong 802.11i enhancements. See “Wi-Fi Protected Access and its
Encryption Methods” on page 98 for definitions.
 WPA (with AES or temporal key integrity protocol (TKIP) encryption), which
complies with a subset of 802.11i. While WPA is not as strong as WPA2, it
addresses some of the security weakness of 802.11. See “Wi-Fi Protected
Access and its Encryption Methods” on page 98 for definitions.
 The IEEE 802.1X standard. 802.1X supplements the 802.11 standards with
secure server-based wireless or wired network connections. See “802.1X
Authentication” on page 99.