Chapter 9. Wireless LANs

In This Chapter

  • Understanding risks of wireless LANs

  • Selecting wireless LAN hacking tools

  • Hacking against wireless LANs

  • Minimizing wireless network security risks

Wireless local area networks (WLANs, also called Wi-Fi) — specifically, the ones based on the IEEE 802.11 standard — are increasingly being deployed into both business and home networks. Next to Voice over IP (VoIP) and digital video recorders, WLANs are the neatest technology I've used in quite a while. Of course, with any new computing technology comes security issues, and WLANs are no exception. In fact, 802.11 wireless has been the poster child for weak security and network hack attacks for several years running. The stigma of unsecure WLANs is starting to wane but this isn't the time to lower your defenses.

WLANs offer a ton of business value, from convenience to reduced network deployment time. Whether or not your organization allows wireless network access, you probably have it, so testing for WLAN security vulnerabilities is critical. In this chapter, I cover some common wireless network security vulnerabilities that you should test for, and I discuss some cheap and easy countermeasures you can implement to help ensure that WLANs are not more of a risk to your organization than they're worth.

Understanding the Implications of Wireless Network Vulnerabilities

WLANs are very susceptible to attack — even more so than wired networks (discussed in Chapter 8). They have vulnerabilities that can ...

Get Hacking For Dummies® 3rd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.