Re: wifi file sharing security

In article <#9pFMBS7JHA.1716@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
bchambers@xxxxxxxxxxxx says...
1) Disable SSID broadcasting. This makes it harder for outsiders to
detect your network.

....

3) Enable MAC filtering, so only computers that *you* specify by MAC
Address can connect to the router.


Taken from a security advisors site:

MAC filtering: This is like handing a security guard a pad of paper with
a list of names. Then when someone comes up to the door and wants entry,
the security guard looks at the person's name tag and compares it to his
list of names and determines whether to open the door or not. Do you see
a problem here? All someone needs to do is watch an authorized person go
in and forge a name tag with that person's name. The comparison to a
wireless LAN here is that the name tag is the MAC address. The MAC
address is just a 12 digit long HEX number that can be viewed in clear
text with a sniffer. A sniffer to a hacker is like a hammer to a
carpenter except the sniffer is free. Once the MAC address is seen in
the clear, it takes about 10 seconds to cut-paste a legitimate MAC
address in to the wireless Ethernet adapter settings and the whole
scheme is defeated. MAC filtering is absolutely worthless since it is
one of the easiest schemes to attack. The shocking thing is that so many
large organizations still waste the time to implement these things. The
bottom line is, MAC filtering takes the most effort to manage with zero
ROI (return on investment) in terms of security gain.

SSID hiding: There is no such thing as "SSID hiding". You're only hiding
SSID beaconing on the Access Point. There are 4 other mechanisms that
also broadcast the SSID over the 2.4 or 5 GHz spectrum. The 4 mechanisms
are; probe requests, probe responses, association requests, and re-
association requests. Essentially, youre talking about hiding 1 of 5
SSID broadcast mechanisms. Nothing is hidden and all youve achieved is
cause problems for Wi-Fi roaming when a client jumps from AP to AP.
Hidden SSIDs also makes wireless LANs less user friendly. You dont need
to take my word for it. Just ask Robert Moskowitz who is the Senior
Technical Director of ICSA Labs in his white paper Debunking the myth of
SSID hiding.


--
You can't trust your best friends, your five senses, only the little
voice inside you that most civilians don't even hear -- Listen to that.
Trust yourself.
spam999free@xxxxxxxxxx (remove 999 for proper email address)
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: So I was wardriving in Yosemite...
    ... We have ours locked to just our 4 MAC addresses. ... > encryption is what makes your signal safe. ... > wifi if you just have the MAC filtering, but that doesn't mean they can't ... > I imagine it would be fun to run etheriel on my laptop while attached to my ...
    (alt.2600)
  • Re: No WEP key works?
    ... >>A MAC filter isn't very secure, ... >>network, zonealarm may have a setting to stop pings, or you could use the ... >>segment and the packets will be broadcast to both PCs with the IP. ... If you decide to use MAC filtering as well, ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web)
  • Re: DHCP restriction via MAC...
    ... Mac filtering does raise the bar to entrance and could prevent unauthorized ... denial of service attack to legitimate computers if the DHCP scope is used ...
    (microsoft.public.security)
  • Re: Wired detection of rogue access points
    ... Is mac filtering an effective layer of security? ... "Filtering by MAC gives you no additional security whatsoever, ... A simple way to handle MACs with IPTables (NOTE: ...
    (Focus-IDS)
  • Re: No WEP key works?
    ... >> Since I'm now using WPA, will the MAC addresses be encrypted for MAC ... being able to use MAC filtering without the problems ... The router is trying to gather info on the source in case I'd ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web)
Quantcast