Last Mile Solution

As network has proven their feats as major market player and is contributing immensely towards shrinking the gap and promoting the new and high standards of communication. But along with that they are under the serious security challenges offered to them form the hackers community relentlessly and quite too often.

Both Wired and wireless networks is the target of malicious activists. The main difference between wired and wireless networks is the anonymous, uncontrolled coverage areas between the end points of the network. This allows attackers to perform a number of attacks that are not found in traditional wired networks.

In general, attacks on wireless networks fall into four basic categories: passive attacks, active attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks and jamming attacks.

Passive Attacks on Wireless Networks
A passive attack occurs when someone listens to or eavesdrops on network traffic.  Armed with a wireless network adaptor that supports promiscuous mode, the eavesdropper can capture network traffic for analysis using easily available tools. A passive attack on a wireless network may not be malicious in nature.  As the wireless communication takes place on unlicensed public frequencies any one can use these frequencies.  This makes protecting a wireless network from passive attacks more difficult.

Active Attacks on Wireless Networks
Once an attacker has gained sufficient information from the passive attack, the hacker can then launch an active attack against the network. There are a potentially large number of active attacks that a hacker can launch against a wireless network.  For the most part, these attacks are identical to the kinds of active attacks that are encountered on wired networks.  These include, but are not limited to, unauthorized access, spoofing, and Denial of Service (DoS) and Flooding attacks, as well as the introduction of Mal-ware and the theft of devices.

Man-in-the-Middle Attacks on Wireless Networks
Placing a rogue access point within range of wireless stations is wireless-specific variation of a man-in-the-middle attack. The potential attacker fooled both the parties at either end and impersonates itself as the actual potent user.

Jamming Attacks on Wireless Networks
Jamming is a special kind of DoS attack specific to wireless networks.  Jamming occurs when spurious RF frequencies interfere with the operation of the wireless network.  In some cases, the jamming is not malicious and is caused by the presence of other devices, such as cordless phones, that operate in the same frequency as the wireless network.