The instant and obvious benefits of WiFi have made WLANs a big success
in public, private, and enterprise sectors. Unfortunately, the adoption of
correct security measures for WLANs is lagging far behind the fast pace
at which these networks are being deployed. The presence of WiFi in
most laptops and handhelds, the simplicity of independently installing
WiFi networks, and the ease of exploiting wireless vulnerabilities have
together escalated the risks manifold. Even organizations that do not
own a WLAN are equally at risk.
Report
Share
Report
Share
1 of 10
Download to read offline
More Related Content
Wireless Vulnerability Management: What It Means for Your Enterprise
9. AIRTIGHT NETWORKS WHITE PAPER
Wireless Vulnerability Management:
What It Means for Your Enterprise
In addition to protecting their assets, organizations are liable to protecting their consumersâ
sensitive data, e.g., credit card information in the retail sector, patient data in hospitals,
protecting children in schools from getting exposed to illegal content, and personal
identity information such as driverâs license and social security numbers. Depending on
the segment they belong to, organizations are required to comply with legislative regu-
lations such as PCI, SOX, HIPAA, GLBA, and DoD.
An effective wireless vulnerability assessment solution should:
Automatically scan for all known vulnerabilities enabling zero-day attack protection
Accurately detect and locate existing and potential vulnerabilities without false positives
Create an inventory of critical assets and unauthorized devices in the airspace
Present the scan results in a concise, but informative report that classifies vulnerabilities,
prioritizes them according to well-defined severity levels, summarizes the main findings,
and recommends remedial actions
Compare reports generated at different times
Map wireless vulnerabilities in the context of the relevant regulatory compliance
Wireless Vulnerability Remediation
The logical next step after wireless vulnerability assessment is remediation of detected
vulnerabilities. Given the different flavors of vulnerabilities, a one-size-fits-all remediation
will not work. Here are different types of remediation methods broadly classified into two
categories: Manual and Automatic.
1. Configuration
Wireless vulnerabilities begin with misconfigured devices. The least a network administrator
must do is to ensure that operational settings of all authorized wireless devices follow the
widely accepted best practices and compliance recommendations.
2. Software patch
When a software bug in a wireless driver is discovered, the vendor usually publishes a software
patch to fix the bug. It is critical to keep your wireless software up-to-date. In addition,
wireless security vendors may also provide software patches to APs and clients for protecting
them against protocol flaws. Using these patches will raise the bar for potential hackers.