Firewall Wizards mailing list archives

Re: Locking down public wireless access


From: "Kevin Sheldrake" <kev () electriccat co uk>
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 16:55:24 -0000

Chris

From what I gather, you're looking for accountability. Bearing in mind MAC addresses can be spoofed (and IP addresses are likely to be dynamic), how do you intend to identify the users for accounting purposes? They log in, sure, but then what? I think the problem is that once in there is no real difference between any of the users.

I would suggest that you need a different crypto key for each user. Then, only if the keys are compromised are you going to end up not knowing who did what. I would suggest IPSec as a suitable multi-user multi-key technology. Users would need to register in person (you don't want those keys transmitted in clear over the air do you?) and be issued with a strong PSK or a certificate, depending on the config.

I would certainly recommend you read the NTA-Monitor paper on ISAKMP if you do go this way.

Kev

At my university, the computer science department would like to offer
wireless access to computer science students, but would like the
access to not be anonymous. Current problems with unrestricted access
to the internet are obvious, anonymous kids downloading porn, movies,
mp3s, etc, and as the university allowed this to happen, they could be
held liable.

enforcing a logon policy would help limit the university's liability
in said situations.

ideally, we would like to implement a system in which the user will
connect to un-encrypted wireless, but any attempts to get out will be
redirected to the authentication page. Once the user logs in, they
will be given the WEP key of the day, and then they will have
unrestricted access.

I'm investigating the usage of Linksys WRT45G routers, with a modified
firmware, but I have no actual experience with this. I would like to
look into other methods of doing this, as well, such as Perfigo (which
has now been acquired by Cisco)...

If you have any suggestions for hardware, or existing documentation
floating on the net about how to achieve this sort of setup, please
let me know.

Chris
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--
Kevin Sheldrake MEng MIEE CEng CISSP
Electric Cat (Cheltenham) Ltd

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