Wireless Communication Policy

Wireless Communication Policy

Free Use Disclaimer: This policy was created by or for the SANS Institute for the Internet community. All or parts of this policy can be freely used for your organization. There is no prior approval required. If you would like to contribute a new policy or updated version of this policy, please send email to policy-resources@sans.org.

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Last Update Status: Updated June 2014

1.    Overview

With the mass explosion of Smart Phones and Tablets, pervasive wireless connectivity is almost a given at any organization.  Insecure wireless configuration can provide an easy open door for malicious threat actors.

2.    Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to secure and protect the information assets owned by the University. University provides computer devices, networks, and other electronic information systems to meet missions, goals, and initiatives. University grants access to these resources as a privilege and must manage them responsibly to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all information assets.

This policy specifies the conditions that wireless infrastructure devices must satisfy to connect to University network. Only those wireless infrastructure devices that meet the standards specified in this policy or are granted an exception by the Information Security Department are approved for connectivity to University network.

3.    Scope

All employees, contractors, consultants, temporary and other workers at University, including all personnel affiliated with third parties that maintain a wireless infrastructure device on behalf of the University must adhere to this policy. This policy applies to all wireless infrastructure devices that connect to the University network or reside on the University site that provide wireless connectivity to endpoint devices including, but not limited to, laptops, desktops, cellular phones, and tablets. This includes any form of wireless communication device capable of transmitting packet data.

4.    Policy

4.1  General Requirements

All wireless infrastructure devices that reside at the University site and connect to the University network, or provide access to information classified as the University Confidential, or above must:

·      Abide by the standards specified in the Wireless Communication Standard.

·      Be installed, supported, and maintained by an approved support team.

·      Use University approved authentication protocols and infrastructure.

·      Use University approved encryption protocols.

·      Maintain a hardware address (MAC address) that can be registered and tracked.

·      Not interfere with wireless access deployments maintained by other support organizations.

4.2  Lab and Isolated Wireless Device Requirements

All lab wireless infrastructure devices that provide access to University Confidential or above, must adhere to section 4.1 above. Lab and isolated wireless devices that do not provide general network connectivity to the University network must: 

·      Be isolated from the corporate network (that is it must not provide any corporate connectivity) and comply with the Lab Security Policy.

·      Not interfere with wireless access deployments maintained by other support organizations.

4.3 Home Wireless Device Requirements

4.3.1     Wireless infrastructure devices that provide direct access to University corporate network, must conform to the Home Wireless Device Requirements as detailed in the Wireless Communication Standard.

4.3.2      Wireless infrastructure devices that fail to conform to the Home Wireless Device Requirements must be installed in a manner that prohibits direct access to University corporate network. Access to University corporate network through this device must use standard remote access authentication.

5.    Policy Compliance

5.1  Compliance Measurement

The Infosec team will verify compliance to this policy through various methods, including but not limited to, periodic walk-thrus, video monitoring, business tool reports, internal and external audits, and feedback to the policy owner.

5.2  Exceptions

Any exception to the policy must be approved by the Infosec team in advance.

5.3  Non-Compliance

An employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

6     Related Standards, Policies and Processes

·      Lab Security Policy

·      Wireless Communication Standard

7     Definitions and Terms

The following definition and terms can be found in the SANS Glossary located at:

https://www.sans.org/security-resources/glossary-of-terms/

·      MAC Address

8     Revision History

Date of Change	Responsible	Summary of Change
June 2014	SANS Policy Team	Updated and converted to new format.

 Razan Bakedo