KEYWORDS: Network security, Associative arrays, Computer security, Defense and security, Information security, Standards development, Local area networks, Internet
The nature of wireless network transmission means that an attacker does not have to be in the place where such a network is deployed. It is possible to sense, capture and analyze network traffic from a distance without being detected. If the network is not well secured, discovering of the information is not a problem. Security is one of the major concerns regarding Wi-Fi other than performance or range. Security should be one of the primary factors to consider when planning a wireless network. However, a lot of people who use it or intend to use it are not aware of the problem. Dictionaries with passwords, fake access points (AP) or backdoors in the routers’ software are just some of the methods used by attackers. Recently, a lot of methods have been related to socio-technical activities. In such cases, even secure systems can be vulnerable, because the target of the attackers is not focused around a technical feature but on people’s behaviors. This is a case, because, “human factor” is very often the weakest element in the security chain. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to raise the security awareness of users and protect wireless networks against adversary attacks. Particular attention is paid to the severity, possible targets as well as defense strategies against intruder’s actions. In this context, new WPA3 protocol promises to make it harder to break the into a Wi-Fi network. The article also presents a discussion on new features of WPA3 and their impact on improving the security of Wi-Fi networks.
Wireless local area networks (WLANs) are a cost-efficient solution that satisfy most current communication requirements in domestic, public and business scenarios. However, WLANs face two main challenges. Firstly, they must address dense scenarios, which is motivated by the continuous deployment of new access points to cover new areas. Secondly, the current evolution of services toward real-time high-definition audio and video content significantly increase users’ throughput needs. This paper includes a new Wireless LAN amendment to IEEE 802.11 specification. The new amendment is named IEEE 802.11ax (also High Efficiency WLAN) and increases the per-user throughput by 4 times compared to existing WLAN standards. This is to enable to operate a large number of devices (laptops, smartphones and Internet of Things equipment) producing a lot of data. This article overviews some of new PHY and MAC enhancements and describes the potential benefits and drawbacks of each one. The comparison with its predecessor IEEE 802.11ac is carried out. Because the proposed solution is still not ratified, the article focuses on the open issues and provide a description of the mechanisms.
Wireless networks are very popular and have found wide spread usage amongst various segments, also in military environment. The deployment of wireless infrastructures allow to reduce the time it takes to install and dismantle communications networks. With wireless, users are more mobile and can easily get access to the network resources all the time. However, wireless technologies like WiFi or Bluetooth have security issues that hackers have extensively exploited over the years. In the paper several serious security flaws in wireless technologies are presented. Most of them enable to get access to the internal networks and easily carry out man-in-the-middle attacks. Very often, they are used to launch massive denial of service attacks that target the physical infrastructure as well as the RF spectrum. For instance, there are well known instances of Bluetooth connection spoofing in order to steal WiFi password stored in the mobile device. To raise the security awareness and protect wireless networks against an adversary attack, an analysis of attack methods and tools over time is presented in the article. The particular attention is paid to the severity, possible targets as well as the ability to persist in the context of protective measures. Results show that an adversary can take complete control of the victims’ mobile device features if the users forget to use simple safety principles.
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