Cisco Systems 8961 manual Security for Voice Communications in WLANs, Authentication Methods

Chapter 6 Understanding the VoIP Wireless Network

Security for Voice Communications in WLANs

Interacting with Cisco Unified Communications Manager

Cisco Unified Communications Manager is the call control component in the network that handles and routes calls for the wireless IP phones. Cisco Unified Communications Manager manages the components of the IP telephony system—the phones, access gateways, and the resources—for such features as call conferencing and route planning. When deploying a Cisco Unified IP Phone on a wireless LAN, you must use Cisco Unified Communications Manager Release 7.1(3) or later and the SIP protocol.

Before Cisco Unified Communications Manager can recognize a phone, the phone must register with Cisco Unified Communications Manager and be configured in the database. For information about setting up phones in Cisco Unified Communications Manager, see the “Configuring Cisco Unified IP Phones in Cisco Unified Communications Manager” section on page 1-24.

You can find more information about configuring Cisco Unified Communications Manager to work with the IP phones and IP devices in the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration Guide and Cisco Unified Communications Manager System Guide.

Related Topics

Configuring Cisco Unified IP Phones in Cisco Unified Communications Manager, page 1-24

Security for Voice Communications in WLANs

Because all WLAN devices that are within range can receive all other WLAN traffic, securing voice communications is critical in WLANs. To ensure that voice traffic is not manipulated or intercepted by intruders, the Cisco Unified IP Phone and Cisco Aironet APs are supported in the Cisco SAFE Security architecture. For more information about security in networks, refer to http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns744/networking_solutions_program_home.html.

This section contains the following items:

•Authentication Methods, page 6-11

•Authenticated Key Management, page 6-12

•Encryption Methods, page 6-13

•Choosing AP Authentication and Encryption Methods, page 6-13

Authentication Methods

The Cisco Wireless IP telephony solution provides wireless network security that prevents unauthorized logins and compromised communications by using the following authentication methods supported by the wireless Cisco Unified IP Phone 9971:

•Open Authentication—Any wireless device can request authentication in an open system. The AP that receives the request may grant authentication to any requestor or only to requestors on a list of users. Communication between the wireless device and AP could be non-encrypted or devices can use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) keys to provide security. Devices that are using WEP only attempt to authenticate with an AP that is using WEP.

	Cisco Unified IP Phone 8961, 9951, and 9971 Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager 8.5 (SIP)
OL-20861-01		6-11