ZENworks® ESM 3.5 Administrator’s Manual 117
Managed Access Points
ESM provides a simple process to automatically distribute and apply Wired Equivalent Privacy
(WEP) keys without user intervention (bypassing and shutting down Microsoft's Zero
Configuration manager), and protects the integrity of the keys by not passing them in the clear
over an email or a written memo. In fact, the end-user will never need to know the key to
automatically connect to the access point. This helps prevent possible re-distribution of the keys
to unauthorized users.
Due to the inherent security vulnerabilities of Shared WEP Key Authentication, Novell supports
ONLY Open WEP Key Authentication. With Shared Authentication the client/AP key validation
process sends both a clear text and encrypted version of a challenge phrase that is EASILY sniffed
wirelessly. This can give a hacker both the clear and encrypted versions of a phrase. Once they
have this information, cracking the key becomes trivial.
Figure 85 : Managed Access Points Control
Enter the following information for each AP:
• SSID - Identify the SSID number (case sensitive)
• MAC Address - Identify the MAC Address (recommended, due to the commonality
among SSIDs. If not specified, it is assumed there will be multiple AP's beaconing the
same SSID)
• Key - Enter the WEP key for the Access Point (either 10 or 26 hexadecimal charac-
ters)
• Key Type - Identify the encryption key index, by selecting the appropriate level from
the drop-down list
• Beaconing - Check if the defined AP is currently broadcasting its SSID. Leave un-
checked if this is a non-beaconing AP
Note:
The ZSC will attempt to first connect to each beaconing AP listed in the policy. If no beaconing AP can be
located, the ZSC will then attempt to connect to any non-beaconing APs (identified by SSID) listed in the
policy.
When one or more access points (APs) are defined in the Managed APs list, the Signal Strength
switching for the Wi-Fi adapter may be set. See page 100 for information on Signal Strength
Settings.
