BKWLSSEC.RVW   20020601

"Wireless Security", Merritt Maxim/David Pollino, 2002, 0-07-222286-7,
U$49.99
%A   Merritt Maxim
%A   David Pollino
%C   300 Water Street, Whitby, Ontario   L1N 9B6
%D   2002
%G   0-07-222286-7
%I   McGraw-Hill Ryerson/Osborne
%O   U$49.99 800-565-5758 905-430-5134 fax: 905-430-5020
%P   321 p.
%T   "Wireless Security"

Part one is an introduction to wireless systems.  Chapter one deals
primarily with cellular telephony and concentrates on vendors,
although there are interesting comparisons of use in the US, Europe,
Japan, and Asia.  Wireless threats, in chapter two, emphasizes LANs,
and generally just lists types of activities such as eavesdropping and
jamming.  Entitled "Introduction to Wireless Security Protocols and
Cryptography," chapter three is half right, in that it lists a number
of protocols and mentions cryptography.  While we are promised
wireless device security, in chapter four, the content focuses on
laptops and PDAs, as well as the need to encrypt data and keep the
keys off the machines.

Part two looks at wireless technology and applications.  Chapter five
is an extremely disjointed introduction to cellular networks, bringing
in multiplexing, combination service plans, and odd security
implementations.  There are some errors, such as a discussion of
differing power requirements for various encoding schemes, but mostly
the material is just confusing.  Wireless data networks deals
primarily with cellular data services in chapter six.  Wireless
standards and technology moves back to LANs again, and simply lists
802.11 variations.

Part three promises wireless deployment strategies.  The security
design suggestions for LANs, in chapter eight, are mostly good, with
some mention of general network security tools.  Some generic access
policies and planning, with some relevance to wireless, are listed in
chapter nine.  Chapter ten gives a set of extremely terse (less than
two pages each) "case studies" that are really just examples.  A look
into the future, in chapter eleven, is unlikely to be realistic, and
concentrates on telephony.  The book finishes with a brief
introduction to "tiger team" assessments of wireless LANs.

The flip-flopping of emphasis, and the lack of technical details,
means that this book will be of little practical use in providing or
assessing security for wireless systems.  As a quick background on the
various aspects of such systems, it might be useful in discussions of
policy.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 2002   BKWLSSEC.RVW   20020601