IEEE 802.11w
802.11 is a set of
IEEE standards that govern wireless networking transmission methods. They are commonly used today in their
802.11a,
802.11b, and
802.11g versions to provide wireless connectivity in the home, office and some commercial establishments.
IEEE 802.11w is the Protected Management Frames
standard for the
IEEE 802.11 family of standards.
TGw is working on improving the
IEEE 802.11 Medium Access Control layer to increase the security of management frames.
Wireless LANs send system management information in unprotected frames, which makes them vulnerable. This standard will protect against network disruption caused by malicious systems that forge disassociation requests that appear to be sent by valid equipment.
It is expected that 802.11w would extend
IEEE 802.11i to apply to 802.11 management frames as well as data frames. These extensions will have interactions with
IEEE 802.11r and
IEEE 802.11u [
1]
Status
The 802.11w standard is in its early proposal stages. The target for ratification is March 2008.
See also
*
IEEE 802.11i Enhanced Security
*
IEEE 802.11r Fast BSS Transition
*
IEEE 802.11u Interworking with non-802.11 networks
External references
*
Status of the project 802.11w IEEE Task Group TGw
*
WLAN Standards Get a Push Carmen Nobel
eWeek.com July 18, 2005
