Wireless and Mobile Device Security, 2nd Edition

Wireless Network Security

Historically, WLAN technology has been viewed by security professionals as convenient but an inherently unsecure medium. This is because early WLAN implementations, often found in small office/home office (SOHO) environments, were typically installed by technicians who were not knowledgeable about radio technology or security. The result was unauthorized users poaching the network—that is, using its bandwidth without permission. Worse, some users would gain unauthorized access to the data on the network, even injecting or forging data.

Of particular concern was the use of omnidirectional antennas with wireless networks. With such an antenna, the wireless access point broadcasts to anyone in the vicinity who has a receiver, ...