Radio wave technology makes WiFi networks readily available and often freely accessible to users. As a result, connecting to a WiFi network can be an insecure undertaking.
The following types of WiFi connections are more secure:
Connecting to a private restricted-access WiFi network.
Private networks, such as internal networks that are established by corporations or universities, restrict network access to users who can provide the correct security challenge. Potential users must supply a key during the connection sequence or log in to the network through a secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) application.
Encrypting your connection to a WiFi network.
You can encrypt communications between your system and a WiFi network by using a secure key. Your access point to the WiFi network must be a router that is in your home or office with a secure key-generating feature. Your system and the router establish and then share the key before creating the secure connection.
The dladm command can use a Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) or a Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) key for encrypting connections through an access point. The WEP protocol is defined in the IEEE 802.11 specifications for wireless connections. The WPA protocol is defined in the IEEE 802.11i specifications for wireless connections. Oracle Solaris supports versions 1 and 2 of the WPA standard. For more information about dladm command options that are related to WEP and WPA, refer to the dladm (1M) man page.