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Security in a Mobile World part-1 Posted

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Today I posted the first part of my four part article “Security in a Mobile World”.   This article part, and the following 3 parts will continue to be published at Mobility Today.

Security is a multilevel concept, in both the mindset and it’s practical application. The mindset refers to keeping the concepts of security at the front of your mind while you go through your daily activities. The practical application is Security itself. For now, I will only attempt to touch on the important levels (under the heading of Practical Application) that Mobile Users need to consider in today’s environments. Later I will touch on the mindset aspect of Security.

If you would like to read the entire 1st part of this article, click here.

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"Wi-Fi Companion" as a Troubleshooting Utility

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"Wi-Fi Companion" will assist those who would assist you, as well as your fellow users in helping you isolate the cause of most Wireless WiFi problems.

Once you have it installed, please unplug your iPAQ’s battery for 30seconds, then replace it. This will cause a core-reset of the wireless adapter, and force a Soft Reset on the iPAQ itself. No data is lost on a Soft-Reset.

Once you have turned on your iPAQ and have re-enabled your wireless adapter, and are within "Wi-Fi Companion", please go to the Router Tower icon in the lower right-hand corner and create a profile for your home Router connection. Check the OK button and return to the main view. When your iPAQ has "associated" with the Router/AP (a period wherein the two units are negotiating your iPAQ’s IP Address assignment), you will see a lightning-bolt connecting the two units.

After this, assuming your profile is correct, you should see your iPAQ obtain a valid IP Address (which is defined as something other than an IP Address of 169.254.n.n). Please press and hold on the PDA icon in the upper left-hand corner and pick IP Addresses, and please report back to us what the various settings are:

IP Address:
Subnet Mask:
Gateway:
DNS Server:
WINS Server:
DHCP Server:
Domain Name:
Lease Obtained:
Lease Expires:
MAC Address:
Device Name:

Additionally, on the main "Wi-Fi Companion" screen, please advise of the following settings:

1.) Do you see the name of the Wireless LAN you wish to connect to? If not, click on the Router tower icon to go to the "Wi-Fi Finder" screen and build a profile specific to the Router/AP you wish to connect to. Click OK to return to the main screen.
2.) When the iPAQ is associated with the Router/AP, is there a key & lock icon on the upper half of the lightning bolt going towards the PDA icon?
3.) What is the signal strength (100%? 60%?).
4.) Does this signal strength get better the closer you get to the Router?
5.) What is the channel assignment shown to the lower right of the Tower icon (in a black circle).
6.) Go back to the "Wi-Fi Finder" screen. What is the mode that "Wi-Fi Companion" is detecting (shown on the upper-right corner of the profile)?
7.) Do you have WEP enabled on the Router? If you do, please Disable it for now.
8.) Do you have MAC Address Filtering enabled? If you do, please Disable it for now.

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Anatomy of the DHCP assignment process

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I.) There are two ways to configure your Network connection.

1.) The first (due to it being a "default" setting for most network adapters) and best way to configure your network connection is to enable a process called DHCP (for "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol"), also referred to as a "Dynamic IP Assignment", because the DHCP server can change assignments on an "as needed" basis.

2.) The second way it to manually specify your settings, also referred to as a "Static IP Assignment", because the system will forever keep your manual assignment until you tell it otherwise.

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Product Review of Cirond’s "PocketWinC" WiFi utility.

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Today I published my first Product Review, about a piece of software that assists users in finding and connecting to WiFi Hotspots on Mobility Today.

After installing this program, most users will realize just how powerful their wirelessly equipped iPAQs are; well above the standard established by Microsoft’s “Zero Configuration Networking”, the iPAQ will become a portable WiFi Scanner and hotspot detector (Hotspotter). Additionally, the program makes a great troubleshooting utility for WiFi related problems. By my calculations, Microsoft’s ZC Networking only sees about 4 out of 10 WLANs (or 40% of the actual networks available) in a test area here in my hometown. After having loaded PocketWinC, I was able to see all 10 WLANs. This was confirmed by double-checking with another Laptops with scanner software loaded.

To see the full product review, click here.

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How to setup an E-mail Account on your PDA

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Before we begin, you will need to collect the following information. Most of it will come from your ISP or account provider, some of them are personal choices:
1.) Your username.
2.) Your provider’s server info. This will be in the form of pop.isp.com and smtp.isp.com
3.) You will need to know what connection type you are using (“work” or “the internet“). More on this setting here.
4.) Here’s a very important page: Most e-mail servers now-a-days require an outgoing mail authentication. You will need to confirm with your provider if this is required or not.
5.) Decide whether or not you want to choose “Get message headers only”, or “Get full copy of message”.
  • Headers only means that the e-mail header info (to, from, and subject line) is downloaded first. You must then chose those e-mails which interest you and then manually download the body of the message as a separate step. This is a better choice if you get tons of mail and lots of spam, and only intend on reading certain messages.
  • Full copy is getting the whole message in one fell swoop. This is appropriate if you are expecting to read every e-mail you receive and have very little spam.

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Network Settings: "Work" compared to "The Internet"

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To obtain the most functionality out of your iPAQ, we suggest you configure your settings to reflect “WORK” instead of “The Internet” whenever possible, as a lot of methods of connectivity are NOT supported under “The Internet” (see table below).

Function/Ability Work The Internet
         
         
VPN     x-mark
ActiveSync     x-mark 
Socks/Winsock   (Both)   x-mark 
Host Access   WINS Style (no periods)   DNS Style (periods)
Proxy Server     x-mark 

 

I would whole-heartedly suggest that EVERYONE set their connection to WORK (aka “My Work Network”), as it offers so much more than THE INTERNET. Here’s how to do it:

1.) Go to START > SETTINGS > CONNECTIONS > ADVANCED (tab). Choose “Select Networks” button and make sure BOTH of the entries on the subsequent page are set to “My Work Network”. Click “OK”.
2.) Then, click on the “Network Card” button, and then choose the Network Adapters tab (if it’s not already the default tab). Make sure this selection also refers to “My network card connections to:” and then the choice “Work”. Click on OK.
3.) Then the last verification: Go to START > SETTINGS > CONNECTIONS, then on the (default) Tasks Tab, choose SET UP MY PROXY SERVER option and make sure the top option “This network connects to the Internet” is checked, and that the 2nd option is UNCHECKED!

You’re done!

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Side by Side Comparison of Wireless Formats

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If you have ever wondered about the various Wireless protocols like CDMA and GSM, here they are! I have provided all of the formats that I can think of, as well as a run down on the specifications of each format:

PROTOCOL: 802.11a

  • MAIN USE: PC Networking
  • FREQUENCY: 5GHz
  • RANGE: 25-75ft inside/100ft Outside
  • SPEED: ~54Mbps
  • NOTES: Not backwardly compatible with 802.11b, 802.11g. Other 5GHz devices may disrupt connection

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The Different WiFi Authentication & Encryption Standards

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WEP:
The 40-bit and 64-bit Question:
Wired Equivalent Privacy uses a streaming cipher, which combines the use of a 40-bit WEP Key with a 24-bit random number (known as the Initialization Vector, or IV ) generated by the Router/AP to encrypt the data. You can think of the IV as simply a header for the key. So, for a 64-bit Cipher, the user actually contributes a key length is 40-bits (5 bytes or 10HEX characters), with an additional 24-bits (3 bytes) of system-generated data, for a total of 64-bits (8 bytes) total.

* If you are entering your Key in HEX format, your Key should be 10 HEX characters long.

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Troubleshooting WEP Problems

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When having problems with WEP:

1.) Determine what your cipher length is going to be. For the purposes of troubleshooting, it is suggested that you start with a 64bit encryption.

However, the Router will usually make a contribution to the actual key length, so this will impact what your contribution is. Before proceding any further, please review your Router Documentation to see if your Router contributes to the key-length. If key-length for a 64bit key is expected to be 8 characters, then your Router is NOT contributing any overhead information to the key. The remainder of this article will presume your Router inserts it’s own 3 bytes of data.

 

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Troubleshooting WiFi issues

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Things to consider when having trouble with your WiFi connection:

iPAQ RELATED FACTORS
1.) Reset the Wireless Adapter Always start your troubleshooting process by removing your iPAQ’s main battery (this only applies to iPAQs with a consumer accessible battery) for 30 seconds, then replacing the battery. This will force a core-reset of the wireless adapter, as well as a soft-reset of the iPAQ itself.
2.) Update your software: Make sure your iPAQ has the most recent BIOS, Firmware, and Drivers.

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