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Wireless LANs prone to security breach

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CIOL Bureau
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BANGALORE: Through 2006, 70 percent of successful Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) attacks will be because of the misconfiguration of WLAN access points (AP) and client software, according to Gartner. It reports that enterprises should keep a check on misconfigured access points (APs) as majority of wireless LAN security breaches are caused by them.

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John Prescatore, vice president and Gartner fellow opined that most of the hackers intrude through an unprotected AP or through a peer workstation and once this is successful it is almost impossible to detect the intrusion, as they become invisible and the hacker will continue to use the company's resources.

To protect themselves, businesses must make sure that employees or hackers don't install unauthorized wireless APs on the network and that APs are configured securely. In dense environments, such as urban areas or multi-tenant office buildings, companies have to make sure that their users don't connect to other companies' networks, the research firm stated.

According to Prescatore, who was speaking at the Gartner's IT Security Summit, company's should invest in wireless intrusion detection sensors and not rely on methods such as having IT personnel walk the hallways with wireless sniffers. Sniffer walks should be kept as a standby. Said an online report.

He also added that intrusion detection systems must be vendor-independent that can detect all WLAN traffic. The overwhelming advantage of this method is that all WLAN traffic can be detected regardless of the equipment and vendors involved.





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