Re: Perhaps the most OBVIOUS question you will ever see.

From: Patrick J. LoPresti (patl_at_users.sourceforge.net)
Date: 01/28/05 

Date: 28 Jan 2005 09:20:44 -0500

Here is a somewhat contrarian opinion.

First of all, relax a little. This is not that bad if you have the
sort of internal access controls which you ought to have anyway.

A wireless attacker cannot "sniff" anything except other wireless
traffic. Packets to and from machines on the wired network are not
sent over the wireless, period. In order to sniff most of your
traffic, the attacker would need to compromise a machine on the
internal network. And even then, a switched network (like most are
today) would make sniffing useless.

And even the most basic Windows authentication mechanisms do not send
passwords in the clear.

A wireless attacker has the same access as an employee who has
forgetten his password; no more, no less. So he can probably browse
the Internet, send objectionable mail originating from your network,
try to guess passwords, seek out unpatched security flaws on internal
systems, and so on.

But if you are a serious network admin, you should already be
preventing (or at least noticing) any of these. By far the most
widespread and expensive security compromises are inside jobs. They
do not make the newspapers because they are not "sexy" and companies
do not like to publicize them. But disgruntled or curious employees
are the biggest threat you face, and if your network is secure against
them, it will be secure against a wireless attacker.

That said, it is certainly not considered best practice to have an
unsecured wireless access point behind your firewall, because you
might as well not have a firewall. Which is actually how I would
argue this to management: For anybody within range, your firewall does
not exist.

On the other hand, unsecured access points in a DMZ are not uncommon.
Many companies find that the convenience of easy binding to the
wireless network (especially for visitors) is worth the cost/risk of
providing free Internet access to anyone nearby.

 - Pat

"Curious George" <curious@spampoop.com> writes:

> Dear Colleagues:
>
> For the life of me I don't know why I have to ask this question since the
> answer is so obvious, however, I need to have others tell me that I am not
> completely insane.
>
> I work at a place where we have a myriad of wireless access points and NO, I
> am not writing from there at present.
>
> NONE of the wireless access points has any form of security on them
> whatsoever. No WEP, no CHAP. . . no nothing. Everything is open so you
> could walk into our joint, grab an IP address and surf the web to your
> heart's content.
>
> Here is the problem. My boss insists that its "no big deal" and that since
> the servers are on the inside and protected, we really don't have a thing to
> worry about. Furthermore, my boss is under the impression that since we are
> situated in a wide area, that nobody would be able to get into our network
> because of this distance. Needless to say, my boss does not consider
> somebody sneaking into a parking lot with a laptop, a good network card and
> a directional bazooka antenna a possibility.
>
> So here is what I have to explain to my boss' boss and, perhaps, the board
> of directors. . . and here is where I can't help but laugh. I hope that I
> will be able to keep a straight face come Monday when I have to explain
> myself to people why its important.
>
> Okay, so I know the analogies. For example, I understand that not having a
> secure wireless network with many Waps and high gain transmission antennas
> is the same as putting cables out to anybody within 'x' amount of yards with
> a sign that says "free internet access", but since I am going to be asked
> these obvious questions, just what type of damage could somebody do?
>
> Yeah, I know about denial of service attacks, yeah I also know about
> enumeration and password guessing, but considering that we have an SQL
> server on the inside of our network (no, the sa account password is not
> null) what are we talking about.
>
> I can envision so many things. Like somebody just sitting there caputring
> packets to get things like usernames, passwords and the like, but come on. .
> . what else could they do.
>
> I have read my boss the riot act many times, but this is now going to go in
> front of somebody over my boss' head, so, aside from giving them worst case
> scenarios, end of the world analogies, etc., how else could people break in.
>
> Creative responses are appreciated and will be rewarded with much praise.
>
> I can't believe that I have to actually explain this to people, and this
> entire thing would last about two seconds when it comes to talking with a
> computer professional, but you see, my boss is under the impression that
> they are a computer professional because they received a Master's degree in
> Comp Sci back in the 80's. I know that this line of thinking is dangerous,
> but I really want some creative answers to put my point across strongly, and
> yet professionally.
>
> Although I realize that this post will likely be the *** of many jokes
> (which I will appreciate immensely) I never the less would appreciate a bit
> of useful information in your responses.
>
> I am going to have a serious drink now, and then bang my head against the
> wall.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> CC

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