Chapter 2: Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Security
Exam Objective
Comparing and contrasting wireless security features and capabilities of WPA security (including open, WEP, WPA, and WPA2)
Now that you are interested in working with wireless networking, you need to know how to secure the wireless network that you are working with. Many options are available to you to secure various aspects of your wireless network. This chapter examines some of the main methods and options that are available to you when securing wireless networks.
Securing a wireless network, like any network, would be done to ensure that your data and private information remain private. The difference is that with wireless networks, you can never be sure where the users may be. I review some of the risks that you have to deal with as well as discuss the steps that you can take to reduce your risks.
Recognizing Security Risks
As with any wired network, any number of attacks can be perpetrated on you if an unauthorized computer is allowed to connect to your network. This is why on secure networks, all unauthorized ports of network switches are disabled or disconnected. However, this is not possible when dealing with wireless networks, where the access point (AP) radio is either on or off.
When a computer is on your network, it is capable of sniffing packets, perpetrating man-in-middle attacks, spoofing valid network packets, capturing passwords and other sensitive information, and causing a denial of service. ...
