Can Wireless Networks Really Be Secured?
Wireless LANs (WLANs) bring incredible productivity and new efficiencies to organizations of all sizes. Advances in WLAN features and capabilities allow organizations to offer the benefits of wireless to their employees without sacrificing security. The history of wireless networking is rife with security problems, including flaws in the Wireless Encryption Protocol (WEP) as well as in implementations of its successor, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). Just as wired networking, wireless communications and networks are susceptible to various attacks and vulnerabilities to include some unique to the wireless medium.
Can Wireless Networks Really Be Secured? This is the same question that today’s speaker was asked to answer as part of his doctoral dissertation. The answer is yes, wireless networks can be secured with the proper use of people, process, and technology in an end-to-end layered approach to security. Secure wireless networking is not only feasible but possible. Even the Department of Defense (DoD)—per its 8100.2 directive—approves wireless use, providing it’s locked down properly. Properly deployed, WLANs can be as secure as wired networks. This presentation will discuss the required steps to creating a secure WLAN infrastructure and the solutions that are currently driving the rapid acceleration and adoption of secure unified government wireless and mobility applications.
James Ransome, Ph.D., CISSP, CISM,
Senior Director, Security Solutions Engineering, Corporate Security Programs and Global Government Solutions, Cisco Systems, Inc.
Dr. James Ransome is Senior Director, Security Solutions Engineering with Corporate Security Programs (CSPO) and Global Government Solutions (GGSG) at Cisco. He provides leadership as well as technical and operational expertise to the company’s assessment of existing and emerging technologies, vendors, tools, devices, architectures, applications, and strategies that support the continuous integration of the most appropriate technology to meet the current security challenges of Cisco’s commercial enterprise and global government customers. He has a particular focus on enterprise and infrastructure level security solutions and unified data, voice, video wireless security for fixed and mobile IP solutions.
Ransome is a recognized security practitioner and author. His career is marked by leadership positions in both the private and public industries, having served in three Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and two Chief Security Officer (CSO) positions. Ransome has established a consistent record of technological innovation in physical and cyber security disciplines.
Prior to joining Cisco, he served as Senior Vice President of Commercial Managed and Professional Security Services at SecureInfo Inc., headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Ransome has held various senior executive information systems and physical security management positions, including Vice President of Integrated Security at CH2M HILL, Vice President of Corporate Security at Exodus and at Cable and Wireless, Vice President of Security Operations and Services at Pilot Network Services, Director of Global Information Systems Security for Applied Materials, Director of Information Systems Security for Autodesk, and Director of IT Security, Directory Services and Email at Qwest Communications. While at Exodus Communications and Cable and Wireless, Ransome managed both Internet and physical security for hundreds of thousands of users within the world's largest commercial hosting environment, serving more than 4,500 customers in 42 data centers.
Prior to joining the corporate world, Ransome spent 23 years in government service. This includes ten years as a computer scientist, national security and imagery analyst for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in support of the national intelligence community, DOE NEST Team, DoD, and federal law enforcement.
He was a NCIS Civilian Federal Special Agent (1811) assigned to the Foreign Counterintelligence (FCI) Squad / San Francisco with responsibilities for FCI investigations and operations, regional law enforcement agency liaison officer, special projects OPSEC, counterterrorism support and analysis, as well as protective service details for national and foreign dignitaries.
Ransome is a retired U.S. Naval Reserve Intelligence Officer (O-5, Commander), a former U.S. Marine Corps Weapons Platoon Sergeant / Intelligence Specialist, and has completed 23 years combined active-duty and reserve service which includes duty in Operation Desert Shield/Storm (field operations), Operation Joint Endeavor (counter-terrorism), and Vietnam-Era service specializing both in weapons systems and intelligence operations. During this time he worked in over 15 countries with US Navy Task Force 168 and received personal commendations from the Chief of Naval Operations and the Department of Army for his work as the Officer in Charge of a small operational team operating on the border of Saudi Arabia and Iraq during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
Ransome holds a Ph.D. in Information Systems specializing in Information Security, a Master of Science Degree in Information Systems, and graduate certificates in International Business and International Affairs. He has developed and tested a security model, architecture, and best practices for converged wireless-wired network security as his doctoral dissertation.
Ransome is an Adjunct Professor for Nova Southeastern University's Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences (SCIS) Information Security Program, designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education by the U.S. National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security where he teaches Applied Cryptography, Advanced Network Security, and Information Security Management. He received the 2005 Nova Southeastern University Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. He is a member of Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE), the International Honor Society for the Computing and Information Disciplines, a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).
Ransome is the author of several published books, including Wireless Operational Security, VoIP Security, Instant Messaging (IM) Security, and Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery Guide for Information Security Managers. He also developed the initial wireless, network architecture, SCADA, and VoIP security best practices for the Federal Communications Commission Network Reliability and Interoperability Council Focus Group on Cybersecurity – Homeland Defense.
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