Wireless Connection Security Issues

Wireless Connection Security Issues

Wireless connections are everywhere. They are used in homes, businesses, and on the go. The reasons for wireless connections' ubiquitousness are fairly obvious: convenience, mobility, and availability, just to name a few. Unfortunately, security is often overlooked when connecting wirelessly. There are several types of unauthorized access to a wireless network, and there are also many methods to gain this access.

Unauthorized access is not always due to malicious intent. For instance, a user may select the wireless connection of a neighboring business or home by accident. This is called an accidental association. The connection itself is referred to as a mis-association. It is possible this “mis-association” could be performed deliberately to bypass security measures (Gao, 2007).

Malicious association occurs when an attacker connects to a wireless network by making his or her wireless card look like a wireless access point (AP). This association can be exploited to gain access to information or to plant malicious software. The attacker may also be trying to gain access to a virtual private network (VPN) or bypass other security (Gao, 2007).

Occasionally, wireless network users may share a wireless connection. When this occurs, a guest computer connects to network through a computer that created an Ad-hoc or peer-to-peer network instead of the connecting to the wireless AP. This can be a security risk because sensitive corporate data may be obtained and malicious code can be transferred from one computer to the other.

One type of network security only allows computers with certain Media Access Control addresses (MAC addresses) to access the network. This is called MAC f...

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...nnot afford to become complacent. Maintaining equipment can easily fill a work day. But, wireless security also requires that users are properly trained, physical security is a priority, documentation is well maintained, and network connection logs are checked on a daily basis.

Works Cited

Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks, US-Cert. Retrieved March 9, 2012 from

http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-014.html

Gao, Jie (2007). Wireless LAN Security. Retrieved March 8, 2012 from www.cs.sunysb.edu/~jgao/CSE370-spring10/wlan-security.pdf

Johnson, Richard (n.d.). Wireless Security Vulnerabilities. Retrieved March 9, 2012 from

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/2497/computers_and_the_internet/

wireless_security_vulnerabilities.html

Warchalking, Wikipedia. Retrieved March 10, 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_

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