NIST's New Enhanced Security Guideline For Wireless LAN

The National Institute of Security and Technology has issued a final form regarding the guidelines to secure Wireless Local Area Network spanning a limited geographic area for a range of devices, in an effort to make radio communications inviolable. The NIST Special Publication  800-153 outlines that valuable information should be protected by incorporating security through various stages of system development process, right from initiation to maintenance disposal.

Wireless LAN or Wireless Local Area Network can be used to connect to Internet and perform tasks that were originally meant for desktops but with the additional freedom to use it on the go as well. Devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops make use of WLAN technology to execute tasks by utilizing connectivity.

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With the improved efficiency and high productivity, the exemption from wired networking asks for a better and advanced security at hand. Wireless LANs have often been cited to have weaker configurations and authentication processes leaving them rather susceptible to attacks.

The WLAN's security directly depends on the security of its components, including client devices and wireless switches. The new publication covers guidelines on topics such as standardizing WLAN security configurations which includes configuration design, implementation, evaluation and maintenance. In addition, the guide provides an insight into issues concerning selection of monitoring tools and the frequency of security monitoring.

The publication also offers readers other NIST publications on system planning, development and security activities. The NIST SP 800-153 manuscript is available #-Link-Snipped-#. The recommendations drafted through the SP 800-153 hold for unclassified wireless networks as well as unclassified facilities that come under unclassified wireless networks.

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