Hello, in this module we are going to discuss wireless networking. Specifically, we'll take a look at how wireless technology works, how it is commonly deployed, and the security issues associated with using it. Because wireless communications can penetrate opaque objects such as buildings, the risk of someone accessing a private network increases markedly. With wireless, an attacker does not need to gain access to physical cables or jacks, but only needs to have an antenna and be within range of the transmissions | Wireless Networking Security Security Essentials The SANS Institute Encryption and Exploits - SANS 2001 1 Hello in this module we are going to discuss wireless networking. Specifically we ll take a look at how wireless technology works how it is commonly deployed and the security issues associated with using it. Because wireless communications can penetrate opaque objects such as buildings the risk of someone accessing a private network increases markedly. With wireless an attacker does not need to gain access to physical cables or jacks but only needs to have an antenna and be within range of the transmissions. We will focus a great deal of this discussion on wireless LANs WLANs . For the most part we think of these like regular LANs -- with workstations servers and laptops -- but without the wires. However it is important to remember that wireless devices include cell phones pagers PDAs etc. These less powerful devices are very widely deployed and are increasingly being used to connect to the Internet. Further their computational capabilities are becoming ever more sophisticated making the devices vulnerable to traditional Internet threats such as viruses and worms. We will explore several aspects of wireless security in this part of the course but before jumping in it is interesting to note that industry analysts are projecting extreme growth in the worldwide wireless market over the next few years. Some even speculate that the number of wireless devices accessing the Internet will soon surpass that of wired PCs expected to happen around 2003 . The link below points to a report by IDC that provides some interesting background on the wireless industry and discusses future challenges --many of which revolve around wireless security. http products documents whitepapers 6 - 1 Popular Wireless Devices PDAs Cellular phones Palmtops Laptops Pagers Wireless Networking - SANS 2001 2 The popularity of wireless devices is staggering and
