IEEE 802.

11

 IEEE 802 committee for LAN standards

 IEEE 802.11 formed in 1990’s, to develop a protocol & transmission specifications for wireless LANs (WLANs)
 Demand for WLANs, at different frequencies and data rates, after that list of standards presented.

IEEE 802 Terminology

Wi-Fi Alliance

 802.11b first broadly accepted standard

 Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) industry association formed 1999
To assist interoperability of products
Renamed Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) Alliance
Created a test suite to certify interoperability
Initially for 802.11b, later extended to 802.11g
Concerned with a range of WLANs markets, including enterprise, home, and hot spots

IEEE 802 Protocol Architecture

 IEEE 802 physical layer includes:
 Encoding/decoding of signals
 Transmission/reception
 Specification of the transmission medium.
 IEEE 802.11 physical layer also defines:
Frequency bands
Antenna characteristics.
Media Access Control (MAC) layer controls access to the transmission medium:
 Receives data from a higher-layer protocol (LLC) layer, in the form of a block of data known as MAC
service data unit (MSDU)
 Responsible for detecting errors and discarding any frames that contain errors.
 The Logical Link Control (LLC)layer (optionally) keeps track of which frames have been successfully
received and retransmits unsuccessful frames.

Network Components & Architecture

IEEE 802.11 Services (9 Services)

The service provider can be either the station or the DS: –

 Station services are implemented in every 802.11 station, including AP stations.

 Distribution services are provided between BSSs; these may be implemented in an AP or in another special
purpose device attached to the distribution system.

Three services control IEEE 802.11 LAN access and confidentiality: –

 Authentication, Deauthentication and Privacy

Six services support delivery of MSDUs between stations:

 If the MSDU is too large to be transmitted in a single MPDU, it may be fragmented and transmitted in a series of
MPDUs.
 Association, Reassociation, Disassociation, Distribution, Integration and MSDU delivery

 MSDU delivery, basic service, in which the information that is delivered as a unit between MAC users.

 Distribution, the primary service used by stations to exchange MPDUs when the MPDUs must traverse the DS to
get from a station in one BSS to a station in another BSS.

 Integration, enables transfer of data between a station on an IEEE 802.11 LAN and a station on an integrated
(wired) IEEE 802.x LAN. To deliver a message within a DS, the distribution service needs to know where the
destination station is located.

 Association, establishes an initial association between a station and an AP.

 Reassociation, enables an established association to be transferred from one AP to another, allowing a mobile
station to move from one BSS to another.

 Disassociation, a notification from either a station or an AP that an existing association is terminated.

802.11 Wireless LAN Security

 Wireless LANs traffic can be monitored by any radio in range, not physically connected as in Wired LANs
 Original 802.11 spec had security features for privacy and authentication.
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) algorithm, but contained major weaknesses\
 802.11i group developed capabilities for WLAN security issues
Wi-Fi Alliance Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)
WPA is a set of security mechanisms that eliminates most 802.11 security issues and was based on the
current state of the 802.11i standard.
final 802.11i Robust Security Network (RSN)

802.11i RSN Services and Protocols

The 802.11i RSN security specification defines the following services:

 Authentication: A protocol is used to define an exchange between a user and AS that provides mutual
authentication and generates temporary keys to be used between the client and the AP over the wireless link.
 Access control: Enforces the use of the authentication function, routes the messages properly, and facilitates
key exchange. It can work with a variety of authentication protocols.
 Privacy with message integrity: MAC-level data (e.g., an LLC PDU) are encrypted, along with a message integrity
code that ensures that the data have not been altered.

IEEE 802.11i RSN operation can be broken down into five distinct phases of operation

 Discovery: AP uses messages called Beacons and Probe Responses to advertise its IEEE802.11i security policy.
STA uses these to identify AP for a WLAN with which it wishes to communicate. STA associates AP, which it uses
to select the cipher suite and authentication mechanism when Beacons and Probe Responses present a choice.
 Authentication: STA and AS prove their identities to each other. AP blocks non-authentication traffic between
STA and AS until the authentication transaction is successful. AP does not participate in the authentication
transaction other than forwarding traffic between STA & AS.
 Key generation and distribution: AP and STA perform several operations that cause cryptographic keys to be
generated and placed on AP and STA. Frames are exchanged between AP and STA only
 Protected data transfer: Frames are exchanged between STA and end station through AP. As denoted by the
shading and the encryption module icon, secure data transfer occurs between STA and AP only; security is not
provided end-to-end.
  Connection termination: AP and STA exchange frames. During this phase, the secure connection is torn down
and the connection is restored to the original state.

802.11i Discovery and Authentication Phases

 The Discovery phase is for an STA and an AP to recognize each other, agree on a set of security capabilities, and
establish an association for future communication.
It consists of three exchanges: Network and security capability discovery, Open system authentication,
and Association.
 The authentication phase enables mutual authentication between an STA and an authentication server (AS)
located in the DS.
 Authentication is designed to allow only authorized stations to use the network and to provide the STA with
assurance that it is communicating with a legitimate network.

IEEE 802.1X Access Control Approach

 IEEE 802.11i uses the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). Before wireless station (STA) is authenticated by
AS, the (AP) only passes control or authentication messages between STA and AS.
 The 802.1X control channel is unblocked but the 802.11 data channel is blocked.
 Once STA is authenticated and keys are provided, the AS can forward data from STA, subject to predefined
access control limitations for STA to the network and the data channel is unblocked.
802.11i Key Management Phase

 AP controlled ports remain blocked until the temporal keys are installed in the STA and AP, which occurs during
the 4-Way Handshake.
 A variety of cryptographic keys are generated and distributed to STAs.
 There are two types of keys:
 Pairwise keys, used for communication between STA and AP; and
 Group keys, for multicast communication.
 Pairwise keys form a hierarchy, beginning with a master key from which other keys are derived dynamically and
used for a limited period of time.
 Pre-shared key (PSK) A secret key shared by AP and STA
 Master session key (MSK), also known AAAK, which is generated using the IEEE 802.1X protocol during the
authentication phase,
 Pairwise master key (PMK) is derived from the master key as follows:
 If PSK is used, then PSK is used as the PMK;
 If MSK is used, then PMK is derived from MSK. By the end of the authentication phase both AP and STA have a
copy of their shared PMK.
 PMK is used to generate pairwise transient key (PTK), which in fact consists of three keys to be used for
communication between an STA and AP after they have mutually authenticated.
Pairwise Keys

 Pairwise Master Key (PMK)

derived from PSK or MSK (AAAK)
at end of auth phase, both AP & STA have PMK
 Pairwise Transient Key (PTK)
generated by PMK using HMAC-SHA-1
consists of three keys
• EAP Over LAN Key Confirmation Key (EAPOL-KCK)
• EAPOL Key Encryption Key (EAP-KEK)
• Temporal Key (TK)

802.11i Key Management Phase

 4-way handshake exchange MPDU for distributing pairwise keys. STA and SP confirm the existence of the PMK,
verify the selection of the cipher suite, and derive a fresh PTK for the following data session.
 For group key distribution, the AP generates a GTK and distributes it to each STA in a multicast group.
 802.11i Protected Data Transfer Phase

Two schemes for protecting data :

 Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP)

s/w changes only to older WEP(wireless equivalent privacy)
Adds 64-bit Michael message integrity code (MIC)
Encrypts MPDU plus MIC value using RC4
 Counter Mode-CBC MAC Protocol (CCMP)
Uses the cipher block chaining message authentication code (CBC-MAC) for integrity
Uses the CRT block cipher mode of operation