Terminology

A glossary of security-related terms:

Acronym￿

Term￿

Definition￿

 

 

 

802.11b

 

The standard specification for wireless

 

 

local area networks (WLAN), often

 

 

called Wi-Fi.

 

 

 

802.1x

 

802.1x uses the protocol EAP

 

 

(Extensible Authentication Protocol) to

 

 

perform authentication when using a

 

 

wireless network.

 

 

 

AES

Advanced Encryption Standard

A 128-bit block data encryption

 

 

technique.

 

 

 

EAP

Extensible Authentication Protocol

A framework for transporting

 

 

authentication protocols to secure

 

 

networks: EAP-TTLS, EAP-PEAP, EAP-

 

 

TLS, and EAP-LEAP.

 

 

 

Encryption (WEP) EAP or IEEE

 

A set of security services used to protect

802.1x

 

802.11 networks from unauthorized

 

 

access.

 

 

 

SSID

Service Set Identifier

A sequence of characters that uniquely

 

 

identifies a Wi-Fi network. (This

 

 

identification number uses a maximum

 

 

number of 32 characters and is case

 

 

sensitive.).

 

 

 

TKIP/AES

Temporal Key Integrity Protocol

Improved data encryption for WPA.

 

 

TKIP provides stronger encryption than

 

 

WEP.

 

 

 

VPN

Virtual Private Network

A way of providing users (for example,

 

 

remote offices, telecommuters, etc.)

 

 

secure access to their organization’s

 

 

network by way of the Internet.

 

 

 

WAP

Wireless Access Point

Physical hardware or computer software

 

 

that acts as a hub for users of wireless

 

 

devices to connect to a local area

 

 

network (LAN).

 

 

 

WEP

Wired Equivalent Privacy

A security protocol designed to provide

 

 

a wireless local area network (WLAN).

 

 

 

WLAN

Wireless Local Area Network

WLAN is a wireless network in which a

 

 

mobile user can connect to a local area

 

 

network through a wireless connection.

 

 

 

WPA

Wi-Fi Protected Area

WPA works with 802.11 standard, and it

 

 

secures a wireless network

 

 

environment.

 

 

 

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