Chapter Contents
Elektron is server software that enables secure wireless networks. To learn more about Elektron, search Elektron Help and visit the support section of the Periodik Labs website. Here are some of the features of Elektron:
Features
Windows Client Compatibility
Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 clients can connect and authenticate to the Elektron server using built-in wireless networking support. No additional software is necessary, lowering costs and system administration headaches.
Mac OS X Client Compatibility
Starting with Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther), Apple has shipped support for the latest wireless security standards, ensuring that Mac OS X users can utilize their wireless networks in the most secure configuration available.
Low Administrative Overhead
Elektron is designed to provide the strongest possible security while at the same time being easy to configure and maintain. Elektron provides a “fire and forget” system that requires little to no maintenence after the intial installation, allowing business owners to focus on maintaining their business, not their wireless network security.
Wide Variety of Authentication Options
Support for Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP), EAP Tunneled TLS Authentication Protocol (TTLS), and EAP Flexible Authentication via Secure Tunneling (EAP-FAST) is included in every copy of Elektron, along with a full complement of tunneled authentication methods. Externally, Elektron can verify user passwords against Open Directory, Active Directory, ODBC, legacy RADIUS servers, and allows you to add your own authentication methods as well.
Works With Mac OS X Directory Services
Directory Services on Mac OS X are used for authenticating users connecting to the Elektron server, creating a single point of user account administration. This means that the same username and password that a user uses to check their email or share files is used to access the wireless network. This includes automatic support for Open Directory accounts when Elektron is installed on an Open Directory server.
Works With Active Directory
When installed on your Active Directory controller, Elektron will automatically use your domain accounts to authenticate wireless network access requests. Users log in with their same domain username and password that they use for other network services, and machine authentication is supported as well.
Access Point Support
Elektron works with many popular WPA enterprise capable wireless access points, including the Apple Airport Extreme Base Station, as well as popular access points from manufacturers such as Linksys, Cisco, Bufallo, Proxim, and others.
Support for Latest Standards
Elektron is up-to-date with the latest security standards, meaning that network administrators can be sure that their wireless networks are safe from intruders while staying compatible with the widest range of client software.
New in Elektron Version 2
Authentication Domains
This feature allows you to map domains to different authentication sources based on the user’s domain. For instance, “user@foo.com” can be authenticated against your Active Directory, while “user@bar.com” can be authenticated against a remote LDAP server. Even if you have only a single domain, this feature gives you the ability to add support for guest accounts: configure “company.com” to authenticate against your company’s user directory, while “guest.company.com” is configured to use Elektron’s built-in user database for easy temporary account creation.
FIPS 140-2 Validated Cryptographic Module
Elektron version 2 uses a cryptographic module that has been tested and validated under the NIST Cryptographic Module Validation Program as meeting requirements for FIPS PUB 140-2, enabling its use in certain government and financial industry applications.
MAC Address Authentication
Simultaneous use of MAC address and standard user account authentication is supported in Elektron version 2, and is fully configurable on a per-access point basis.
Full Windows 7 Support
Elektron’s Windows 7 feature set has been updated to include full support for installation on Windows 7 (including UAC support) and to authenticate Windows 7 clients when installed on any supported platform.
SNMP
Elektron can be configured to to respond to SNMP management information requests in accordance with the standardized RADIUS MIBs, and to issue SNMP traps is response to a user-configurable set of server events.
Authorization Policies
Policy support has been enhanced in Elektron version 2, with new support for triggering actions based on string pattern matching of the username, account groups, access points, and MAC addresses. Support for external scripts includes the ability to trigger policies based on the script result, and to have an external script act upon the result of the policy. Also included is greatly simplified configuration of VLAN assignment, one of the most common uses of authorization policies.
EAP-FAST
Support for Cisco’s EAP Flexible Authentication via Secure Tunneling protocol makes its debut in Elektron version 2.
Least Privilege
Elektron honors the concept of “privilege separation,” in which the server performs its normal functions at the lowest possible level of security privilege, closing potential avenues of attacks on your server.
Acknowledgments
This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit (http://www.openssl.org/)
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