IEEE 802.11 and WLAN Security

HomeRF Security Comparison (Zipped PDF) Though the possibility of attacks similar to those leveled at 802.11b systems exist in theory for HomeRF systems, the relative level of difficulty is very different. HomeRF is stronger in preventing unauthorized access due to its frequency hopping technology and since attempts are not enabled by commercially available equipment. The security of wireless LANs has recently become an area of much concern. Several popular articles 1 and academic papers 2 have identified security concerns with the IEEE 802.11 standard.

Going up the wireless stack (12/01) When broadcasting your data through the air, watch out for the man in the middle. Think you've got a trusted wireless connection to a trusted party? Don't be too sure. Attackers can use a technique known as ARP spoofing to convince two machines that they are communicating with each other, when both are actually connected to a third computer under hostile control. Larry Loeb explains how crackers can implement such so-called man-in-the-middle attacks -- and how you can stop them.

Wireless Network Security with IEEE 802.1x Enhanced wireless networking support based on the Wi-Fi (802.11b) standard was added to the Windows operating systems beginning with Windows 2000. Now, support for the IEEE 802.1x security protocol in Windows XP lets you roam from access point to access point within your corporate LAN. You can also roam to wireless networking hot spots...

Wireless 802.11 Security with Windows XP The major deployment issue for IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs is managing access to the network and privacy of the wireless traffic. The IEEE 802.11 standard defines the use of WEP pre-shared keys for access control and privacy. However, managing pre-shared keys across thousands of workstations is infeasible. 

Netagent Austrian Wireless Security and Wardriving pages

The loss of confidentiality and integrity and the threat of denial of service (DoS) attacks are risks typically associated with wireless communications. Malicious users may gain access to organizational systems and information and compromise the confidentiality of the organization, its users, and its network. These same users may corrupt the organization’s data by spreading viruses, or they may simply launch attacks that prevent users from accessing the network. The purpose of this document is to provide organizations with guidance for establishing secure wireless networks. Organizations are encouraged to tailor the recommended guidelines and solutions to meet their specific security or business requirements.

YellowJacket Plus is a wireless receiver system designed specifically for sweeping, analyzing and optimizing 2.4 GHz W-LANs and WISPs. The instrument measures coverage of DSSS networks which operate on the IEEE 802.11b standard allowing the user to determine the AP, PER, Multipath (Ec/Io) and RSSI signal levels aiding in locating the hub and access points of neighboring WLANs. An optional internal 12-channel GPS receiver may be added which allows Yellowjacket users to geo-time stamp every measurement taken for post processing later. 

Grasshopper WLAN Receiver is a handheld, wireless receiver designed specifically for sweeping and optimizing Local Area Networks. The instrument measures coverage of direct sequence CDMA networks which operate on the IEEE 802.11b standard allowing the user to measure and determine the AP, PER and RSSI signal levels aiding in locating the hub and access points throughout a building.

Ethereal

Whitepaper on WLAN - Rogue Detection and Blocking This paper presents an overview of rogue devices, commonly used techniques in detecting and blocking rogues, comparison of various tools available in the market, and how WiFi Manager does the job cost effectively.

MiniStumbler is Network Stumbler for Pocket PC 3.0 and 2002. Supports ARM, MIPS and SH3 CPU types.

Sniffer Portable a PDA-based wireless physical layer security and performance tool. This product pinpoints security breaches and user slowdowns in the wireless LAN 802.11B radio frequencies. Provides Expert analysis, and saves capture files for use with the standard Sniffer Wireless product.

Wireless Security Auditor (WSA) an IBM research prototype of an 802.11 wireless LAN security auditor, running on Linux on an iPAQ PDA. WSA automatically audits a wireless network for proper security configuration, to help network administrators close any vulnerabilities before the hackers try to break in. 

Distributed Wireless Security Auditor (DWSA) self- diagnostic tool that can automatically monitor 802.11 wireless networks and report security problems in real-time. If the server detects an unknown access point or one with a security configuration violation, the server computes the physical location of the offending access point using the signal strength observed by the client and the locations of some known valid access points through a process of tri-lateration. The physical location of the access point together with the violation is then reported to the administrator.

Tivoli Intrusion Manager connecting your network to the Internet opens up many potential security threats and vulnerabilities. Tivoli Intrusion Manager is an entry-level security product aimed at midsize companies to quickly implement an effective solution to help mitigate and manage intrusions, and help protect the network and Web servers. It offers a single event and problem management console in order to monitor events and quickly respond to security attacks.

PGPfire - Distributed Firewall and Personal Intrusion Detection Now remote and distributed users can benefit from the security of an enterprise ready distributed firewall. Includes personal firewall and intrusion detection system in one easy-to-use package.

PGP e-ppliance 5 Firewall & VPN  - Network Privacy PGP e-ppliance 5 combines Firewall and Virtual Private Networking (VPN) capabilities in a single, integrated software and hardware security system.

Risk Management: Tivoli Risk Manager

Identity Management: Tivoli User Administration, Tivoli Security Manager

WLAN Security Headlines

Network World How Wi-Fi attackers are poisoning Web browsers
Public Wi-Fi networks such as those in coffee shops and airports present a bigger security threat than ever to computer users because attackers can intercede over wireless to "poison" users' browser caches in order to present fake Web pages or even steal data at a later time. That's according to security researcher Mike Kershaw, developer of the Kismet wireless network detector and intrusion-detection system, who spoke at the Black Hat conference.

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Encryption News

Network World How to Set Up a Virtual Private Network
If you work on the go fairly often, you've probably hopped on a public wireless network at least once or twice. You should have also figured out how to keep your data safe when you're on such a network, by taking precautions such as using your company's virtual private network--if available--or an encrypted Web tunnel such as Hotspot Shield.

FreeNewsFeed Security Alert: Beware of Tiffany Trojan on the Attack
Malware writers are using a luxury name to hack into your computer. Security watchdog Sophos is reporting that e-mails coming from a Tiffany.com address and carrying the attachment copy.zip are looking to install a malicious Trojan horse on your PC. "This may be a deliberate ploy on the part of the criminals behind the attack to tempt more people into opening the attachment," Graham Cluley, senior security analyst at Sophos, wrote in a blog post. "Of course, it's child's play to forge e-mail header inform...

IEEE Fast Transmission to Remote Cooperative Groups: A New Key Management Paradigm
The problem of efficiently and securely broadcasting to a remote cooperative group occurs in many newly emerging networks. A major challenge in devising such systems is to overcome the obstacles of the potentially limited communication from the group to the sender, the unavailability of a fully trusted key generation center, and the dynamics of the sender. The existing key management paradigms cannot deal with these challenges effectively. In this paper, we circumvent these obstacles and close this gap by ...

The Register If you've bought DRM'd film files from Acetrax, here's the bad news
We hope you have plenty of spare time, you'll need it Sky will next month shut down Acetrax, a website that streams movies and offers downloads of DRM-encrypted films to paying punters.…

Encryption News Odin U Disk Encrypt Creator 7.6.3 (Windows)
Source: Odin Share Company Free registration required Odin U Disk Encrypt Creator is a very useful U disk/Flash drive encryption tool. Its friendly interface guides you encrypt your U disk/Flash drive/Portable Hard Drive or Mobile Hard Drive easily. Odin

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