On the hidden dangers of wireless network

A prominent issue with the company's wireless network is security. As more and more enterprises deploy wireless networks, they connect employees, professional partners, and the general public to the company's systems and the Internet. The need to enhance the security of wireless networks has become increasingly urgent. Fortunately, as more and more companies are increasingly aware of the threats to wireless networks and the ways to deal with them, the threat gap between wired and wireless networks is getting smaller.

Wireless network threats

Wireless network security is not an independent issue, and businesses need to recognize that attackers should be dealt with on several fronts, but there are many threats that are unique to wireless networks, including:

1. Insert attack: Insert an attack to deploy a non-authorized device or create a new wireless network based on which such deployment or creation is often not subject to security procedures or safety checks. Access points can be configured to require the client to enter a password when accessing. Without a password, an intruder can connect to an internal network by enabling a wireless client to communicate with the access point. However, some access points require that all clients have access passwords that are exactly the same. This is very dangerous.

2.Roaming attackers: it is not necessary for an attacker to be physically located inside an enterprise building, they can use a network scanner, such as a netstumbler tool. Wireless networks can be sniffed out on mobile vehicles using laptops or other mobile devices, known as "wardriving" ; walking on the street or performing the same tasks through corporate websites, called "warwalking" .

3. Fraudulent access points: the so-called fraudulent access point is the access point that is set up or exists without the permission or knowledge of the owner of the wireless network. Some employees sometimes install fraudulent access points, which are designed to avoid the security measures that the company has installed and to create a hidden wireless network. While this secret network is fundamentally harmless, it can construct an unprotected network and, in turn, serve as an open gateway for intruders to enter the corporate network.

4, double-sided demon attack: This attack is sometimes referred to as " Wireless fishing ", the double-sided demon is actually a rogue access point hidden by the neighboring network name. The double-sided demon waits for some blindly trusted users to enter the wrong access point and then steal data from individual networks or attack the computer.

5, stealing network resources: Some users like to access the Internet from the neighboring wireless network, even if they do not have any malicious attempt, but still occupy a large amount of network bandwidth, serious impact on network performance. And more uninvited visitors can use this connection to send mail from within the company or download pirated content, which can create legal problems.

6. Hijacking and monitoring of wireless communication: Just as in a wired network, hijacking and monitoring network traffic over a wireless network is entirely possible. It consists of two scenarios, one of which is wireless packet analysis, in which a skilled attacker captures wireless communications with a technology similar to a wired network. Many of these tools can capture the initial part of a connection session, and their data typically contains a user name and password. An attacker could then use the captured information to call a legitimate user, hijack a user's session, and execute some non-authoritative commands. The second scenario is broadcast packet monitoring, which is dependent on the hub, so it is rarely seen.

of course, there are other threats, such as client-to-client attacks ( including denial -of-service attacks) , interference, attacks on cryptographic systems, misconfiguration, etc., are all factors that can pose a risk to a wireless network.

For more information, please visit the security Sand Box .

On the hidden dangers of wireless network