802.11 NIST Workshop

NIST 802.11 Wireless LAN Security Workshop

December 4-5, 2002

Falls Church, Virginia

On the 4^th and 5^th of December 2002, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) held a workshop on 802.11 Wireless LAN Security in Falls Church, Virginia. The workshop comprised approximately 30 individuals from the US Federal Government, the WiFi industry and the security and academic communities. Participants included individuals from NIST, the National Security Agency (NSA), the National Communication System (NCS), US Secret Service (USSS), Boeing Corporation, Cisco Systems, Microsoft Corporation, Intel Corporation, TruSecure, Microsoft, Agere Systems, Booz-Allen-Hamilton, Vigil Security, Virginia Tech, the University of Maryland, and the Burton Group.

The primary objectives of the workshop were the following:

To ensure that NIST and other interested Federal Agencies understand the current direction of the 802.11 wireless LAN (or WiFi) Industry;
To convey the Federal government cryptographic security requirements to the WiFi Industry;
To map a strategy for the expeditious roll-out of a very robust WiFi security solution; and
To identify areas in which NIST can, given adequate resources, play a productive role in the development of WiFi security standards.

Specific working sessions within the workshop included the following: an overview of NIST and an explanation of its roles and responsibilities; an informative session on FIPS-140 (Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules); an enlightening “user perspective” on implementing 802.11 securely in a large enterprise; an overview of the WiFi Alliance industry organization, and very detailed discussions on the characteristics and rationale of the short-term (WPA—WiFi Protected Access) and long-term (RSN—Robust Security Networks) 802.11 security solutions.

At the conclusion of the second day, the broad-based group of cross-industry and government attendees developed a high-level strategy for the industry that included the following:

Thoroughly and holistically analyze the short-term solution, WiFi Protected Access (WPA), and develop implementation guidance to help consumers properly use it securely (ala NIST SP800-48);
Launch an education campaign to encourage consumers to transition from the use of equipment based on the current Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and to inform them that the vision for the industry is the ubiquitous deployment of the more secure solution—Robust Security Networks;
Develop better communications and interactions (perhaps through the use of a formal liaison relationship) between groups within the IEEE and the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) that are involved in developing security mechanisms for WiFi;
Analyze the RSN solution to ensure that nothing in the architecture and codified in the IEEE specifications will preclude equipment embodying the technology from ultimately gaining FIPS140-2 validation;
Perform several activities related to the RSN solution, including: a) comprehensively analyze all aspects of the security protocol, algorithms and features; b) identify extant vulnerabilities based on the WiFi threat model; and c) develop the necessary security improvements and drive these through the established IEEE standardization process;
Locate financial resources to fund work, such as security review and security mechanism development, within several working groups involved in the standardization of back-end security protocols, equipment provisioning, and securely roaming.

The 2-day workshop concluded having produced a list of “action-able” items to address the high-level strategy identified above.

Workshop Agenda

Detailed Agenda

Day 1 – Wednesday, December 4, 2002

Theme: Introductions, Overviews and Perspectives

Time	Session Title	Duration	Speakers
8:00A-8:10A	Opening Remarks and Welcome (Logistics)	10 mins	Marlene Wilson
8:10A-8:30A	Workshop Motivation, Objectives and Agenda Review [NIST WiFi Security Workshop Opening Remarks]	20 mins	Tim Grance
8:30A-9:10A	Roundtable – Attendee Introductions and Sharing of Roles in 802.11	40 mins	All
9:10A-10:10A	Federal Cryptographic & Non-cryptographic Security Requirements – Perspectives from several fronts [DoD Wireless Policies and Requirements] [NIST Cryptographic Standards Program]	60 mins	Bill Burr (NIST) / Tim Havighurst (FWUF/NSA)
10:10A-10:20A	Brief Review of Special Publication 800-48 [NIST Wireless Security Guidance SP 800-48]	10 mins	Tom Karygiannis
10:20A-10:30A	Morning Break	10 mins	All
10:30-11:30PM	User’s Perspective on 802.11 security – Existing challenges and thoughts about future features[802.11i: A User's Perspective]	60 mins	Steve Whitlock; Paul Dodd (Boeing)
11:30-12:30PM	Overview of FIPS140-2 and Discussion of the Validation Process [The Cryptographic Module Validation Program and FIPS-140-2]	60 mins	Randy Easter (NIST)
12:30-1:30PM	Working Lunch WiFi State-of-the-Industry Report 802.11 Wireless LAN Status and Direction – By 2005 what can we expect? [Wireless Networks: Can Security Catch Up with Business?]	60 mins	John Pescatore (Gartner Group)
1:30-2:30PM	Overview of WiFi Alliance and IEEE 802.11 WGs (Including the organizational composition, key initiatives, mission, approval procedures, etc.) Status of Activities and Current Plans – the Roadmap of 802.11 Security – WiFi Protected Access, RSN and beyond [WiFi Protected Access Media Briefing] [WiFi Alliance Overview] [IEEE 802.11 Procedures]	60 mins	Frank Ferro (Agere, WIFI Alliance); Nancy Cam-Winget (Cisco) Frank covers the WiFi Alliance Nancy covers the IEEE.
2:30-3:30PM	Detailed Presentations on WiFi Protected Access (WPA) 1) What security is offered and what is not? 2) Salient differences from RSN should be identified. 3) Points of known vulnerability identified. [802.11i Overview]	60 mins	Jesse Walker With Tim Moore and Nancy Cam-Winget
3:30-3:40PM	Afternoon Break / BAH FVP Lab Tour and IA Demonstrations	10 mins	FVP Information Assurance Staff (BAH) / All
3:40-4:40PM	Detailed Presentations Robust Secure Networks (RSN) What are the elements of RSN? What security is offered and what is not? How are authentication, integrity, confidentiality, and key management handled?	60 mins	Jesse Walker With Tim Moore and Nancy Cam-Winget
4:40-5:30PM	Detailed Presentations on IETF Activities with respect to standardization of AAA and EAP Methods [EAP and AAA Update] [IETF/IEEE 802.11 Liaison Status Report]	60 mins	Bernard Aboba (Microsoft)
5:30-5:45PM	Day 1 Summary / Wrap-Up	15 mins	Les Owens (BAH)

Detailed Agenda

Day 2 – Thursday, December 5, 2002

Theme: Technology, Tutorials and Collaboration

Time	Session Title	Duration	Speakers
8:00-8:10A	Day 1 Review and Day 2 Agenda Review	10 mins	Les Owens (BAH)
8:10-9:10A	Continued – Detailed Presentations Robust Secure Networks (RSN) What are the elements of RSN? What security is offered and what is not? How are authentication, integrity, confidentiality, and key management handled?	60 mins	Jesse Walker With Tim Moore, Nancy Cam-Winget and Dorothy Stanley
9:10-10:00A	Panel/Open discussion “Will WiFi Protected Access gain so much momentum that RSN will never happen?” [Wireless LAN Security: Where do we go from here?]	50 mins	Mike DiSabato (Burton Group), Steve Whitlock (Boeing),Bob Moskowitz All to discuss
10:00-10:10A	Morning Break	10 mins	All
10:10-11:15AM	WPA Security Feature rational, motivation, and genesis plus initial Security analysis/discussion TKIP, 802.1X, PEAP, eap-TTLS and other versions of extensible authentication protocol Why is WPA what it is?	65 mins	Russ Housley (Vigil Security) leads discussion Interactive discussion with security experts ( Gligor, Giorgio, Arbaugh, McGrew et. al.)
11:15-12:30PM	RSN Security Feature rational, motivation, and genesis plus initial Security analysis/discussion Key management [Wireless LAN Security Solution and Rationale]	75 mins	Russ Housley (Vigil Security) leads discussion Interactive discussion with security experts ( Gligor, Giorgio, Arbaugh, McGrew et. al.)
12:30-1:30PM	Working Lunch – Continue security analysis discussions	60 mins	All
1:30-2:15PM	Continued – RSN Security Feature rational, motivation, and genesis plus initial Security analysis/discussion Key management Why is RSN what it is?	45 mins	Russ Housley (Vigil Security) leads discussion Interactive discussion with security experts ( Gligor, Giorgio, Arbaugh, McGrew, Bob Moskowitz et. al.)
2:15-2:30PM	Afternoon Break FVP Information Assurance Center of Excellence Tour (optional)	15 mins	All
2:30-4:40PM	Strategy Session on Partnership - What are the risks of WPA and addressing WPA inadequacies in the interim; -How to embed FIPS140-2 in the RSN standard; -Improving RSN security even further; -Analyzing RSN to ensure it’s the right set of security features; -What are the pitfalls? Are there weaknesses in a protocol that we need to address or avoid; -Shortening the time to RSN; -Development of partnership and plan; to work together; -Open Discussion [Strategy Session]	2 hrs and 10 mins	Les Owens, Tim Grance, All
4:40-5:00PM	Summary / Action Item Review	20 mins	Les Owens (BAH) Tim Grance(NIST)
5:00-5:10PM	Closing Remarks / Wrap-up / Depart [Comparison of Cellular Industry (’92) to WiFi Industry (’02)]	10 mins	Tim Grance (NIST)

Speakers