Hack Proofing Your Wireless Network

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 512 pages
• Published by: Syngress
• Edition: 1st Edition February 28, 2002
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1928994598
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1928994596
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Weighs: 2.3 pounds

Product Review
With the arrival of IEEE 802.11b (a.k.a. WiFi) and other wireless networking technologies on the market comes a wave of stories about snoops intercepting sensitive LAN traffic from out in the company parking lot or across the concourse at the airport. Hack Proofing Your Wireless Network takes a look at strategies for defending wireless LANs--those based on Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11a as well as WiFi--against signal interception and other attacks peculiar to their wireless nature. Unfortunately, there's also a lot of background information on WiFi (as well as on security principles in general), and this is related to wireless network security only tangentially. Though this material represents unneeded padding, the bulk of the book is made up of useful information about security strategies and defensive configuration. There's also a fair bit of information about the security characteristics of some top-selling wireless networking products.

In a section on choosing WiFi access points, the authors give a very explicit list of requirements (the ability to disable service-set identifier broadcasts, 128-bit Wired Equivalent Protocol--WEP--and so on), and list at least three real products (by make and model) that fit the specifications. They then proceed to show how to choose the most secure configuration options on each of the featured products, including the Cisco Systems Aironet and the Agere ORiNOCO. Configuration instructions are easy to follow and illustrated in detail. Information on the offensive side of the equation is shallower--the authors point out that it's possible to drive around, looking for unsecured wireless access points and that WEP has security flaws. Still, this book is one of the first on security for wireless networks, and it provides a lot of good information to the administrators of such networks. --David Wall

Topics covered: The special security characteristics of wireless networks (primarily including, but not limited to, those operating under the IEEE 802.11 standards) and some recommended procedures for the administrators of such networks. Wired Equivalent Protocol (WEP), MAC filtering, and virtual private networks (VPNs) tailored for use in wireless environments get particularly admirable coverage.

Product Description
The only way to stop a hacker is to think like one!
Wireless technology is a new and rapidly growing field of concentration for network engineers and administrators. Innovative technology is now making the communication between computers a cordless affair. Wireless devices and networks are vulnerable to additional security risks because of their presence in the mobile environment.
Hack Proofing Your Wireless Network is the only book written specifically for architects, engineers, and administrators responsible for securing their wireless networks. From making sense of the various acronyms (WAP, WEP, SSL, PKE, PKI, SSL, SSH, IPSEC) to the implementation of security policies, plans, and recovery protocols, this book will help users secure their wireless network before its security is compromised. The only way to stop a hacker is to think like onethis book details the multiple ways a hacker can attack a wireless network - and then provides users with the knowledge they need to prevent said attacks.

Uses forensic-based analysis to give the reader an insight into the mind of a hacker
With the growth of wireless networks architects, engineers and administrators will need this book
Up to the minute Web based support at www.solutions@syngress.com

Reader Reviews
"Hack Proofing Your Wireless Network" (HPYWN) weighs in at 512 pages, but it could easily be half that size. While the book contains good information, its internal redundancy and inclusion of security advice not specific to wireless adds unnecessary pages. I recommend security professionals skim HPYWN for the material they need, and skip the generic network protection advice. Unlike the attack-minded "Hack Proofing Your Network, 2nd Ed", HPYWN is indeed a defensive-oriented book. It offers strong overviews of widely deployed wireless technologies. These include modern cellular networks and wireless area networks created by 802.11, Bluetooth, and HomeRF. HPYWN offers sound advice on making the best use of available wireless defensive mechanisms, despite acknowledging that Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is "broken." An overview of popular wireless assessment tools like Netstumbler is helpful although not especially thorough... Of the book's nine chapters, chapters 2 (A Security Primer, 50 pages) and 8 (Auditing, 43 pages) don't add anything original to the current body of published security books. Furthermore, many wireless security topics are discussed repeatedly. For example, I didn't need to read in chapters 1, 4, 5, and 6 that WEP's insecurities stem from weak Initialization Vectors. Other recommendations on changing default configurations, enabling logging, and so on also appear in multiple sections. The editor should have consolidated this information to avoid wasting the reader's time. Overall, Syngress should be credited for getting into the wireless game with this book. I would have preferred to see protocol decodes, thorough documentation and usage examples for wireless assessment tools, and in-depth VPN deployment guidance. Should the second edition of HPYWN contain this information, it will justify its current page count.