Basics

Wireless Security: The Basics

Encryption and authentication are the fundamentals of wireless security - here's your guide.

By Galen Gruman

Block intruders before they connect
At Southeastern Polytechnic, Gruzka noticed that hackers would spoof the access points' SSIDs — the names that identify them and their VLANs to computers seeking to connect to the right network. The idea was to fool a user into logging onto the hacker's computer and capturing the user's' credentials and data. On a campus, the signals of access points' reach into the open, so there was no physical way to keep hackers out. So Gruzka used dual-radio access points from Meru Networks. One radio handles the connections to users, while the other scans for rogue access points. The Meru access points "know" each other and can thus identify rogues, Gruzka says, and when they detect one, they use the second radio to send a data pulse that essentially obscures the rogues' spoofed SSID so users can't see it and connect to it. All of this happens in a fraction of a second.

IANS's Carey says Southeastern Polytechnic is by no means alone in facing the threat of rogue access points. It's easy to put such an access point in a potted plant or bring one into a lobby, he notes. And because PCs and laptops can be set to operate in ad hoc mode — making one computer a virtual access point — almost anyone with a PC can be a rogue. IT can ensure that its users' computers are set in such a way that they don't connect via ad hoc mode, eliminating this latter threat, he says. But the actual rogue access point that is snuck into the building — or in a location near enough for its signal to penetrate your walls — is harder to deal with. Using wireless sniffers to conduct periodic sweeps is one approach, as is using interconnected access points that can detect rogues.

Despite these threats, the good news is that there are proven techniques to protect your wireless and mobile environments. The bad news is that many organizations haven't done so yet. ##

Galen Gruman, a freelance writer based in San Francisco, can be reached at ggruman@zangogroup.com.

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