Networking Corporate Infrastructure Proposal
Corporate Infrastructure Part VII: Wireless Network
In an organization, it is paramount for it to have some guidelines to help the users to know what they are required to do in the organization. The guidelines are important so that employees do not commit offenses that might be harmful to them and the organization. Creating a policy document is one of the ways that an organization can guide its users in knowing their responsibilities as it summarizes their duties and expected behavior. A wireless security policy is a formal document which outlines the rules and regulations that are in an organization that governs the use of wireless networks in the business. The policy document covers all the aspects of the organization as well as the issue of personal use of the wireless networks in the organization. The policy should have the standards that are accepted both locally and internationally regarding wireless networks.
The following are the components of the wireless security policy. The first part will be the statement of scope and authority which outlines the various rules and regulations that users of the network are expected to follow in using the system. It will also include the legal requirements that the organization will adhere to in using the system. The next part will be the statement of responsibilities which include the duties of each of the users. People such as system administrators have the responsibility of ensuring that the network is running while other users have an obligation to make sure that any problem that they might encounter is reported to the network administrator. The other part of the policy is the acceptable use which will ensure the parameters of utilization of the system. It will include the general use and personal use.
According to Osterhage (2012), in general use, the users will have the ability to use the network to perform all the duties that pertain to the organization. It can include but not limited to communication with other employees, sending emails using the organization email and receiving feedback from other users. Regarding personal use, the wireless network will only be used to a reasonable level to carry out personal issues. It should however not interfere with the obligations of the users or be used for financial gain. The other part of the policy is quotas and limits. The users will be restricted in the bandwidth that they utilize to ensure that they do not inconvenience others by consuming significant amounts of bandwidth. The quotas will be set regarding the frequency of use as different users from different departments perform various activities. The last part will be on virus checking where all data transmitted through the wireless networks will be checked for viruses, malware, and other threats. It will ensure that users will not knowingly or unknowingly send malicious materials over the network.
The wireless policy that will be created for the organization will be such that the wireless network will be on a different subnet as to enable the protection of the wired network. The wired network in an organization is used mostly for internal communication, and therefore it should be protected against external access by unauthorized persons. The use of a different subnet will ensure that the wired network is separated from the wired network. The best type of encryption to use for the wireless network will be symmetric encryption. The methodology has different attributes which enable it to be useful in an organization. The block cipher will be used since it encrypts and decrypts data as a single stream. One of the attributes of the methodology is that the method uses a single key to encrypt and decrypt data. It will be useful for a lot of people since it will use the wireless network and therefore a single crypto variable is more suitable as compared to many keys.
According to Kizza (2015), the other attribute is that symmetric encryption ensures that the communication in a wireless network is faster as it is easy to use. The methodology is also readily available as there are very many algorithms that are available in the world. Symmetric encryption is also easy to use and faster as compared to other methodologies. The login security that will be employed in the organization to keep out unauthorized users will be the use of passwords and authentication. Each of the users of the network will be required to have a password which will be changed every three months. There will also be an authentication system which will utilize the employee ID number as to enable the workers to login into the network. The authentication system will help in ensuring that each of the users is accountable for their actions in the network. Passwords are usually used to make sure that the login process is not complicated and at the same time provide security to the network by keeping out unauthorized users.
In conclusion, the wireless policy is crucial as it provides the users with the guidelines that they are required to follow as to ensure that the network is secure. The procedure also enables the organization to comply with local and international standards that have been recommended on the issue of network security. The recommendation is that wireless network policy should be given to the employees promptly to ensure that they are aware of their duties.
References:
Guerin, L., & Society for Human Resource Management (U.S.). (2011). Smart policies for workplace technologies: Email, blogs, cell phones & more
Kizza, J. M. (2015). Guide to computer network security
Osterhage, W. (2012). Wireless security
Vaseashta, A., Susmann, P., Braman, E., & IOS Press. (2014). Cybersecurity and resiliency policy framework
