Quick Reference Guide

ProSafe Wireless-N VPN Firewall SRXN3205 Reference Manual
Wireless Configuration 4-3
v1.0, January 2010
There are several ways you can enhance the security of your wireless network:
• Restrict Access Based on MAC address. You can restrict access to only trusted PCs so that
unknown PCs cannot wirelessly connect to the VPN firewall. MAC address filtering adds an
obstacle against unwanted access to your network, but the data broadcast over the wireless link
is fully exposed.
• Turn Off the Broadcast of the Wireless Network Name (SSID). If you disable broadcast of
the SSID, only devices that have the correct SSID can connect. This nullifies the wireless
network “discovery” feature of some products such as Windows XP, but the data is still fully
exposed to a determined snoop using specialized test equipment like wireless sniffers.
• Use WEP. Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) data encryption provides data security. WEP
open authentication and WEP data encryption will block all but the most determined
eavesdropper. This data encryption mode has been superseded by WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK
• Use WPA, WPA-PSK, WPA2, or WPA2-PSK (with or without RADIUS). Wi-Fi Protected
Access (WPA) data encryption provides data security. The very strong authentication along
with dynamic per frame rekeying of WPA make it virtually impossible to compromise. WPA
functions with TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol ) or (Advanced Encryption Standard)
encryption, WPA2 functions with AES only, and WPA+WPA2 functions with a combination
of TKIP and AES encryption.
Figure 4-1
Note: WEP and TKIP support only legacy rates of operation. So, AES is the
recommended encryption for use with 11n rates and speed.