A denial of service (DoS) attack is an assault that can cripple or disable a WLAN. The possibility of such an attack occurring is something that all companies deploying WLANs should consider.

The security of a wireless LAN is very important, especially for applications hosting valuable information. For example, networks transmitting credit card numbers for verification or storing sensitive information are definitely candidates for emphasizing security. In these cases and others, proactively safeguard your network against security attacks.

One of the most critical security concerns of IT managers today is the possibility that rogue wireless access points may be present on the corporate network. A rogue access point is one that the company does not authorize for operation. The trouble is that a rogue access points often don't conform to wireless LAN (WLAN) security policies, which enables an open, insecure interface to the corporate network from outside the physically controlled facility.

802.11 wired equivalent privacy (WEP) has weaknesses, making it inadequate for protecting networks containing sensitive information. WEP does a fairly good job of defending against the general public, but there are some good hackers lurking out there who can crack into a WEP-protected network. As a result, you will need to implement advanced security mechanisms beyond the capability of WEP if you feel that unauthorized people will want access to resources on your network.