Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Subscribe to our e-mail newsletters
For more info on a specific newsletter, click the title. Details will be displayed in a new window.
Networking
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
More E-Mail Newsletters 
 

What to watch out for with Wi-Fi

January 26, 2006 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - Wi-Fi networks use short-range radio frequencies to communicate between devices, eliminating the necessity for running cable. While operating without wires is an advantage, users and IT personnel need to be aware that Wi-Fi networks do not recognize walls as barriers. The challenge is that Wi-Fi networks extend outside of approved areas, leaving users with leaky Wi-Fi and in the position where someone else's Wi-Fi network may be present and beckoning.
Wi-Fi technology creates many opportunities for malicious hackers to compromise systems and gain access to private data. In addition, the most common safeguards to securing 802.11 wireless LANs -- authentication, encryption and virtual private networks (VPN) -- are insufficient.
Like a grass hut, WLANs have doorways that close, but the structure remains porous. In the same way that sunlight leaks into a grass hut, Wi-Fi signals leak into and out of a company, building, campus or military base. The door on the hut is akin to the complex encryption, authentication and VPN layers designed to keep wireless networks safe. However, strengthening the "steel door" will not minimize the hut's remaining weak defense. While enterprise security professionals are concerned with outsiders breaking in, Wi-Fi networks heighten this concern with outside networks that overlap physical space.
Security is fundamentally about assumptions, and the problem with Wi-Fi is that assumptions change. There is a threat of exposed data in the air in the 300-to-500-foot radius around all laptops and access points. Because hackers can "spoof" a Media Access Control address and remain anonymous, it's almost impossible to block them at the so-called steel door. In addition, Wi-Fi attackers can deploy their own networks into an office by using their access points to attack laptops and systems. And they don't even need to be in the building.
What can be done to stop Wi-Fi attackers? First, look at the genesis of attacks. The majority of these attacks fall into one of these categories: to crack, to compromise and to circumvent the existing wireless security. In this piece, we will examine these attacks and provide best practices to safeguard WLANs.
Cracking the code
"Cracks" are the most direct attacks on encryption algorithms and have been particularly successful within the Wi-Fi environment. A Wi-Fi attacker can sit outside of his target in a parking lot or across the street and unassumingly engage in active or passive attacks while trying to crack an organization's encryption.
In the 1990s, when Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) was introduced, hackers attacked it, not by going after the underlying encryption algorithm, but



Additional Resources

POLL RESULTS
Accelerate your knowledge of the IT world you inhabit by viewing the results of a series of polls taken by your IT peers. These polls of 100+ IT professionals each are available for full viewing. They cover key topics such as virtualization, processor performance, green IT, cloud computing and many others. Be a part of the buzz.
WHITE PAPER
Technology is complex. Keeping it running productively shouldn't be. To that end, you want to minimize the number of solutions needed in-house to simplify operations, maintenance, and support. Kodak offers a best-practices model. One company provides support for both scanner and software, for fast problem resolution without vendor finger-pointing. Download now!
WHITE PAPER
Utilizing demand intelligence improves the precision of pricing, product assortments, channel/store placement, and promotion, which are all essential for sustainable revenue management performance. Learn more, download this free whitepaper today.

White Papers & Webcasts

Accelerate SSL Encrypted Applications
The amount of SSL traffic is growing in the enterprise. Because it is encrypted, it cannot be properly controlled and accelerated. Blue Coat...  

Security Configuration Management
In this web video, follow along with Jim Hansen, Senior Product Manager with Big Fix, as he explains why Security Configuration Management is...

ESG Lab Field Audit
Many companies have successfully implemented Riverbed WAN optimization solutions within their Cisco networks. This ESG Lab Field Audit document explores the success that...  

Usability Is Everything
Learn what sets Workday's HR and Payroll solutions apart from the competition....

Shape Your Apps Strategy to Reflect New SaaS Licensing and Pricing Trends
Why are smart companies choosing software-as-a-service? Find out in the complimentary Forrester Research report...  

The Value of Real SaaS at Workday
Cost savings, speed to value, and innovation brought to the enterprise by Workday's software-as-a-service solutions for HR and Payroll....

2007 Gartner Magic Quadrant Report
Riverbed positioned in Leaders Quadrant of Gartner Magic Quadrant for WAN Optimization Controllers. Analyzing strengths vs. cautions, Gartner helps organizations looking to acquire...  

SaaS at Flextronics, Inc.
Dave Smoley, CIO of Flextronics, discusses the real value of software-as-a-service and why he chose Workday for his HR solution....

Business Value of Performance IDC Whitepaper
Are you looking for a comprehensive solution that addresses insufficient or congested bandwidth, impaired application performance, slow remote backup and replication or obstacles...  

Why Compliance Pays
This OnDemand webcast explores the relationship that firms with best compliance records have higher revenue, greater customer retention, lower financial losses from data...