Wireless LAN Security

Wireless networks are now widely used, all of us actually preferring to be connected without cables  and go here and there with our mobiles and tablets 😉😉

During this topic, we will discuss and explore the wireless networks, along with the security risks and issues in addition to the resolution for these risks.

So let's start with listing the security issues and all related details

War Driving

The practice of roaming around looking for open networks is called "War Driving". All it takes is a laptop computer and a card. It is the act of driving around in a vehicle with a laptop computer and antenna and an 802.11 wireless LAN adapter, to exploit existing wireless networks. War Driving exploits wireless networks that have ranges that extend outside the perimeter of buildings indoor to gain free internet access or illegal access to an organization's data.

The best and simple safeguard  against WarDriving is using the WEP encryption standard ( we will explain it in details later below)

Rogue Networks

Hackers who can create rogue wireless networks to hijack connections to legitimate networks. The risk involves the collection of vital information, such as passwords, credit card numbers and other personal information. For example, a wireless network connection provided by Starbucks named "Starbucks" might be "Starbcks" in a rogue network. 

Enterprises are facing increasing risks of employees installing their own rogue wireless LANs to the enterprise network. Driven by the desire for mobility and fueled by the decreasing prices of wireless LAN hardware, these employees circumvent an enterprise's investment in IT security and introducing the risks which enterprises suffering from that's is rogue wireless LANs 

Wireless Policy Management

Suitable and strict management policies are vital in securing any wireless network.

Below some recommendations related to best practices that must be in place to secure a wireless network:

1. A policy that forces the enterprise to use encapsulation of 802.11, Bluetooth in addition to any wireless technology
2. Make sure that the equipment (such as the access points) has the latest software release that includes security features
3. Standardized configurations to reflect the security policy, to ensure a change of default values, and to ensure consistency of operation.

MAC Addresses

Most wireless access points and routers shipped with a feature called hardware or "MAC" address filtering. This feature is normally turned off by the vendors because it requires a bit of effort to set up properly. However, to improve the security of your WLAN, strongly consider enabling and using MAC address filtering. 

Without the MAC address filtering, aby wireless clients can join (authenticate with) a WiFi network if they know the network name (called SSID) and perhaps a few other security parameters like encryption keys. When MAC address filtering is enabled, the access points and routers perform an additional check on different parameters.

To set up MAC address filtering, a WLAN administrator must configure a list of clients that will be allowed to join the network.

Service Set ID (SSID)

Wireless access points, routers, and gateways are delivered with default SSID password settings set by the vendor. The SSIDs are actually a unique names composed of 32 characters, given for a wireless network to be recognized and known among other networks. Finding a device with the default SSID signals an unguarded network.

its purpose to stop other wireless equipment accessing your LAN whether accidentally or intentionally 

Wireless Security Encryption

There are different types of wireless security encryption protocols, developed starting from 1999, until 2004. These protocols are WEP, WPA, and WPA2, with the latest (WPA2) is the strongest one in terms of protection. These protocols actually encrypt the data you sent over the wireless network in addition to preventing unauthorized users from using your network.

Now as we listed above the main security points that targeting the wireless networks, we will illustrate below the best practices that should be considered when dealing with wireless networks:

Best Practices

• At a minimum, wireless APs and adapters should support 128-bit WEP, MAC filtering and the disabling of SSID broadcast
• Always use WEP
• The default password used to manage the AP should be changed frequently
• Change the default SSID of the AP
• Do not put any kind of identifying information in the SSID, such as company name, address, products and so on
• Do not use shared key authentication
• If possible, disable the SSID broadcast,as this will prevent wireless scanning tools from detecting your SSID 
• If possible, get AP which has the option of limiting the coverage area of the wireless signal 
• Do not place the AP near windows. Try to place it in the center of the building so that interference will hamper the efforts of ware drivers.

In conclusion, dealing with wireless networks requires special treatment and carefulness, as this is actually an available network to compromise, and there are different risks surrounding it. So try to minimize the appearing of your network and apply the mentioned security concepts in order to stay safe.