Security exhibitors set up insecure WLANs

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/25000.html

By John Leyden
Posted: 24/04/2002 at 11:25 GMT

Wireless networking insecurity was a key theme of this week's
InfoSecurity show with a number of suppliers coming out with surveys
on just how vulnerable world+dog is to drive by hackers.

However a quick scout around the show yesterday revealed the problem
is closer to home than most vendors would like to admit - half of the
show's wireless LANs were wide open to attack.

Using a Compaq iPAQ equipped with a 802.11b card, Rob Baskerville, a
consultant at security services firm Vistorm, discovered that eight of
the 15 networks he found were running WLANs without WEP (Wired
Equivalent Privacy), often taken as a sign that networks are
vulnerable.

Baskerville, who found his results "surprising", didn't perform any
invasive attacks (illegal without permission), so it's unclear how
much mischief could be wrought through the oversight.

The use of WEP, which is itself vulnerable to attacks using cracker
tools such as AirSnort, is often taken as a benchmark for surveys on
wireless networks security.

But Baskerville says the issue is more complex: some companies -
knowing WEP provides only minimal protection - simply don't use it,
opting for security mechanisms, such as VPNs, to secure their
networks.

But what about the wireless LANs in Olympia? Vistorm consultants
reckon the networks were put up in a hurry and without much thought
for security.

Oh dear.



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