Wireless networks are everywhere, and ensuring secure wireless communication is of great importance. This research investigates infrastructure networks. This kind of network is based upon one or more connected Access Points (AP) that end users connect to in order to access the network. Several security protocols exist for these kinds of networks. Two common ones are Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2).

The problem addressed in this research is the lack of a common protocol that is secure, but not private. A wireless network using WEP is secure, but private, meaning that people need to know a secret key in order to connect to the network. Why would we want a secure and public network? The main use would be in public places. Consider a wireless network in an airport - in order for it to be public; it has to be insecure, which puts the users at risk. We investigate alternatives which would enable the implementation of a public and secure wireless network. Does a protocol like this already exist? Are there implementations of current protocols that could ensure a public and secure network? If these do exist, why are they not widely used?

Free WiFi in Airports & Public Hotspots, Brian Wilson, http://anti-hacker.info/papers/free.pdf
- An in depth first person informal description of an insecure wireless infrastructure network with no encryption protocol.

The Art of casual WiFi hacking, Jeremy Martin. http://www.infosecwriter.com/pdf/WiFi%20hacking%20article.pdf
- A guide to casual WiFi hacking, specifically wireless networks implementing WEP security with high traffic.

Hacking Techniques in Wireless Networks, Prabhaker Mateti
http://www.cs.wright.edu/~pmateti/InternetSecurity/Lectures/ WirelessHacks/Mateti-WirelessHacks.htm
- A very detailed academic paper that reviews forms of Wireless Network Sniffing, Wireless Spoofing, Wireless Network Probing, Access Point Weaknesses and Denial of service and many other types of attacks.

Secure Wireless Internet Access in Public Places, Paramvir Bahl, Srinivasan Venkatachary
http://www.cs.ucsd.edu/~abalacha/research/papers/ICC01.pdf
- A description of a network called CHOICE that presents itself as an alternative to 3G networks for providing Secure Wireless connectivity in public places. This network uses Protocol for Authorization of Negotiation of Services (PANS).

Build a Secure Wireless Portal with Linux, Carla Schroder
http://www.enterprisenetworkingplanet.com/netos/article.php/3592556
- A guide on how to build a secure and public wireless access point. This guide uses a linux server to manage connections instead of relying on some sort of security protocol. The guide seems to result in the creation of a public and secure network, but does not go over any possible vulnerabilities.

Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) Method Requirements for Wireless LANs, D. Stanley, Agere Systems, J. Walker, Intel Corporation, B. Aboba, Microsoft Corporation
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4017
- The IEEE 802.11i MAc Security Enhancements Amendment relies on the Extensible Authentication Protocol. This Request For Comment (RFC) defines the requirements for EAP.

Wikipedia for PKI (public key infrastructure) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_key_infrastructure

Recon and Attack Tools, wi-foo.com http://www.wi-foo.com/index-3.html -
A list of resources for testing wireless vulnerability. - A long list of tools used for Wireless hacking. Includes sniffers, decrypters, and signal strength monitors. The tools mentioned in the two articles above are available here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Authentication_Protocol -
Wikipedia entry for EAP - A general overview of EAP, a shrunken down version of the RFC above.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=67 -
Understanding the updated WPA and WPA2 standards by George Ou - Another overview of the new WPA and WPA2 standards, explaining the change from supporting a single EAP standard to five EAP Standards, and the resulting confusion in the industry.