Security Terminologies

The wireless security terminologies that are covered in this section are listed in this topic.

The following table describes the abbreviations used in the security section.

Abbreviation	Expanded Form	Description
Authentication
EAP	Extensible Authentication Protocol	An authentication framework used in wireless networks and point-to-point connections.
WPA	Wi-Fi Protected Access	A security standard used for computing devices with wireless internet connections.
WEP	Wired Equivalent Privacy	A security standard that encrypts transmitted data. It is used to provide data security. WEP has the following settings: Off—Provides no security 64-bit—Provides less security 128-bit—Provides better security
PSK	Pre-Shared Key	A client authentication method used for WPA and WPA2 encryption. It uses a string or a passphrase to generate unique encryption keys for each wireless client.
PEAP	Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol	A WPA authentication type that transports secure authentication data including legacy password-based protocols. PEAP accomplishes this by tunneling between PEAP clients and an authentication server.
FAST	Flexible Authentication via Secure Tunneling	An EAP authentication type developed by Cisco. Mutual authentication is achieved by means of a PAC that can be managed dynamically by the authentication server.
TLS	Transport Layer Security	An EAP authentication type that provides certificate and mutual authentication between the client and the network to dynamically generate user-based and session-based WEP keys to secure subsequent communications between the WLAN client and the access point.
LEAP	Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol	An EAP authentication type used primarily in Cisco WLANs. It encrypts data transmissions using dynamically generated WEP keys and supports mutual authentication.
Encryption
TKIP	Temporal Key Integrity Protocol	An encryption protocol used as part of the 802.11i to boost the encryption strength.
AES	Advanced Encryption Standard	A symmetric-key algorithm that uses the same key for encrypting and decrypting data.
CCMP	Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol	An enhanced data cryptographic encapsulation mechanism for secure data.
CCKM	Cisco Centralized Key Management	A form of fast roaming supported on Cisco infrastructure and on wireless networks.
WDS	Wireless Domain Service	A feature required for a network with many AP. It enables connection between APs in a network.
OKC	Opportunistic Key Caching	An authentication technique between multiple APs in a network where the APs are under common administrative control.
PMK	Pairwise Master Keys	An 802.1x authentication process that allows skipping the EAP exchange while roaming between APs.
Authentication Support
CA	Certificate Authority	An entity that issues digital certificates. A digital certificate contains the public key of the owner.
NIST	National Institute of Standards and Technology	A measurement standards laboratory and a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce.
PAC	Protected Access Credential	Strong shared secret key that enable the ACS and an EAP-FAST end-user client to authenticate each other and establish a TLS tunnel.