Wireless devices that are equipped with Network Interface Cards (NICs) allow anyone that manages to gets through your wireless device to gain access to other wireless devices in your WLAN network neighborhood, and all devices connected to your wired network (LAN) segments. It is critical, therefore, to not only secure all wireless station adequately, but also to install firewalls between your WLAN subsegment and your Wired LAN segments so as to scrub all incoming traffic.

All traffic that enters your system over a wireless network (WLAN) interface must be thoroughly scrubbed. This is critical if your wireless device is also linked to your wired local area network (LAN). If malicious traffic is allowed to invade your wireless-enabled device unchecked, it should not be surprise if someone manages to breach many other network resources and data stores on your LAN that the wireless-enabled device in question may be interfaced with.

Here are two highly effective ways to cleanse/scrub all your inbound packets:

• Use a Firewall: A properly configured firewall creates a barrier between your trusted network on the inside and the untrusted or hostile devices on the outside. Firewalls are most commonly installed in what is commonly known as DMZ Region: The network segment that is outside an organization’s network, and inside of the organization's link to the outside -the Internet. Firewalls are also used within corporate Intranets to isolate, partition or regulate the flow of information across department or division boundaries. Firewalls provide an added layer of security mechanisms for bolstering security of all network boundaries -whether the traffic needs to be secured as the data traverses over wired LAN, or through the air over WLAN segments.
  
  

• Intrusion Detection System (IDS): Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) is essentially a monitoring system that allows you to keep a close eye on your network for any suspicious traffic. IDS helps you quickly discover if someone tries to breach your network security, tries to gain unauthorized access to your systems, or misuses/abuses your network resources. system. We highly recommend that you incorporate IDS into your entire network -including all of your wired and wireless network segments.

Firewalls and intrusion detection systems help you protect your proprietary data. We highly recommend that a personal firewall and intrusion detection system (IDS) be implemented on each wireless device -especially those WAP enabled devices that are 802.11 enabled.