WLANs at CTIA Fall Short of Secure AirDefense identifies security
risks and network invasions
Atlanta - March 30, 2004 - Touted as the largest wireless
conference, CTIA attracted leading wireless vendors to the Georgia
World Congress Center March 22-24 providing a breeding ground
for wireless interactions, security risks and network invasions.
AirDefense Inc., the leader of 24x7 monitoring of wireless LANs,
conducted a study of wireless LAN (WLAN) activity on March 23
identifying wireless attacks, security vulnerabilities and performance
issues.
AirDefense studied WLAN traffic flow at the conference over the
course of four hours. AirDefense then analyzed the behaviors and
associations that resulted. AirDefense found the following operating
infrastructure:
216 access
points
24 Soft APs,
laptops that function as access points
609 user stations
969 BlueTooth
devices
42 ad-hoc networks,
associations between two wireless devices without connection
to an access point
AirDefense analyzed WLAN activities and identified usage patterns,
network bottlenecks and problematic stations and access points
that could jeopardize the enterprise wireless LAN. The data further
illustrated excessive access points on the same channel causing
interference and performance degradation.
The majority of wireless LAN activity at the tradeshow, as identified
by AirDefense, was Instant Messaging, e-mailing and web browsing.
In spite of the visibility of security issues, less than five
percent of the conference attendees connected to their corporate
email accounts via a secure virtual private network (VPN) and
less than 10 percent used encryption.
"The amount of insecure communications over the air was
overwhelming," said AirDefense Chief Security Officer Richard
Rushing. "Attendees rushing to check in with the office between
sessions do not realize the ease with which a hacker can lift
usernames, passwords and confidential information simply by having
the attendees' laptop or PDA connect with his rogue AP. What is
more interesting is the data we collected was from a show where
people are supposed to be security conscious, proving that, even
in a well-trained world, security risks and theft will and do
occur. "
AirDefense research found numerous risks and threats including:
25 identity
theft attacks on the T-Mobile and Cisco sponsored Hotspot whereby
intruders were stealing the identity of unsecured users to connect
to the network without being charged
246 network
scans from tools such as Netstumbler and operating systems like
Windows XP
126 user stations
sending out unanswered probe requests
45 specific
scans to compromise Hotspot network
Six Denial
of Service attacks
AirSnarf, a
SoftAP setup utility impersonating the Hotspot that steals usernames
and passwords
48 BlueSnarf,
a tool to connect to an unsecured device to gain access to restricted
portions data
393 BlueJack
attacks including the sending of "MyDOOM," "Your
Cute" and "You Have WON" viruses
"Sharing information such as this should alert companies
to the need to protect their wireless and ultimately wired side
data," said Anil Khatod, chief executive officer of AirDefense.
"With the industry's only extensive solution for real-time
wireless LAN monitoring, only AirDefense could provide this level
of insight into WLAN usage patterns and security risks."
About AirDefense, Inc.
AirDefense is a thought leader and innovator of wireless LAN security
and operational support solutions. Founded in 2001, AirDefense
pioneered the concept of 24x7 monitoring of the airwaves and now
provides the most advanced solutions for rogue WLAN detection,
policy enforcement, intrusion protection and monitoring the health
of wireless LANs. As a key element of wireless LAN security, AirDefense
complements wireless VPNs, encryption and authentication. Based
on a secure appliance and remote sensors, AirDefense solutions
scale to support single offices, corporate campuses or hundreds
of locations. Blue chip companies and government agencies rely
upon AirDefense solutions to secure and manage wireless LANs around
the globe. For more information, go to www.airdefense.net
or call 770.663.8115.
Media Contacts: Heidi Litner
AirDefense, Inc.
770.663.8115 x 110
hlitner@airdefense.net
AirDefense is a registered trademark of AirDefense, Inc. All
other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
