Security Issues in Wireless LANs-II

Information security has become a buzzword of the twenty-first century. Governments, institutions, enterprises, commercial businesses and individuals are storing
information in electronic form as this has a number of distinct and unique advantages over
physical storage. Storage in electronic form is more compact, transfer is almost instantaneous
and accessing, retrieving, loading, and manipulation of information via databases, is easy.

The need

The ability to use information more efficiently has resulted in a rapid increase in the value of
information. Businesses in a number of commercial arenas today recognise information
as their most valuable asset. So there are a number of mechanisms, products and technologies, which make use of this critical, precise, historical and valuable information in a useful manner to make life-saving decisions. With the electronic revolution, information now faces new and potentially damaging security threats. Unlike information printed on paper, information in electronic form can be stolen from a remote location in an easy and invisible manner.

What is information security?

Information security describes all measures taken to prevent unauthorised use of electronic
data. This unauthorised use may be in the form of disclosure, alteration, substitution or destruction of the data. Information security is classified as the provision of the following three
services:-

Confidentiality: Concealment of data from unauthorised people.

Integrity: Assurance that data is genuine, i.e., the originality has been preserved

Availability: Ensuring that the system functions efficiently after security provisions
are in place.