Chapter 9

Wireless LANs

In This Chapter

arrow Understanding risks of wireless LANs

arrow Selecting wireless LAN hacking tools

arrow Cracking wireless encryption

arrow Minimizing wireless LAN 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. WLANs have been the poster child for weak security and network hack attacks since the inception of 802.11 over a decade ago. 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 that you can implement to help ensure that WLANs aren’t more of a risk to your organization than they’re worth. ...

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