wirelesstutorial

A basic understanding of the fundamental concepts and theories in RF electronics is an invaluable asset to the wireless hacker. At the end of the day, if your hardware isn't working, then no amount of clever software is going to help. Radio Frequency ( RF) Terminology To start off, let's talk about what is meant by radio frequency or RF. Technically speaking, RF refers to any signal between the frequencies of 3 Hz and 300 GHz. More practically, however, RF refers to signals from about 3 MHz up to 300 GHz. Signals that fall into this range of frequencies are capable of traveling through space in the form of electromagnetic waves. The distance over which these signals can travel depends on factors such as the signal's frequency and atmospheric conditions. Communications Systems The history of wireless communications goes back to the late 1800s when a German physicist by the name of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz first discovered the existence of electromagnetic waves. ...

D emand for new features and capabilities fuels the growth of wireless networking technologies. Old problems are dealt with and new ones appear. Keeping up-to-date with the latest developments can be a daunting task. This book will help IT professionals understand the new types of threats made possible with wireless technologies, give them the means of identifying the threats, and provide the remediation processes to protect important financial and intellectual assets. One of the goals of this book is to give you a basic understanding of the concepts underlying wireless technology. Various topics will be covered in this book that will help you gain a better understanding of wireless security: the effect of antenna design on radio transmissions, key scheduling methods of encryption algorithms, tools used to probe wireless devices and networks, and methods that can be used to help secure the wireless network infrastructure. As wireless technology improves and the hardwa...

All is not bleak, however. With the advent of many wireless attack methods, means to counter the attacks and reduce exposure are also available. The evolution of wireless security continues in a cycle IT professionals will recognize from wired network security-a game of cat and mouse. As new weaknesses are found in wireless networks and protocols, new methods and designs are put into place to address them. One of the first efforts at securing 802.11 networks was WEP. The use of RC4 with 40-bit keys was considered sufficient. However, a flaw in the specification regarding the data fed into the RC4 algorithm was found that allowed attackers to derive the secret key used to protect traffic. In order to address that issue, WPA was created. As of this writing, WPA2 is now available for 802.11X networks. Lessons learned from attacks against WEP and WPA, both practical and theoretical, have been applied in the design of WPA2. Other security mechanisms are being developed or have ...

BlogUpp! | the blog: Cross-Posting to Social Networks

T he adoption of wireless devices continues to grow as they become more affordable. The rapid spread of wireless technologies among both business and personal systems has improved interoperability and accessibility. However, this very ubiquity has also led to an increase in the number of threats to computer networks. Wireless technologies have given attackers new ways to steal sensitive information, tamper with business processes, and subvert network security enforcement mechanisms. As new threats and attacks are found against wireless networks, they are addressed with changes and additions to the protocols and standards. This book will introduce the basic concepts underlying the evolution of wireless security-the threats, the exploits, and the remediation strategies. Data Interception One attack that must be considered when using wireless technology is the threat of data interception. In data interception, one of the key benefits of wireless technologies also leads to one of its gre...

Communications over wireless links have been possible for a very long time. Radios were used for communications in the late 1800s. Guglielmo Marconi demonstrated the transmission of Morse Code over wireless links for the British Post Office in 1897. In 1898, the Russian navy cruiser Africa used a wireless communications device to communicate with operators on shore. Television signals were first broadcast in 1928. The very first visual image sent over television signals was Felix the Cat. Since those times, radio communications have come a long way. Commercial radio stations, television broadcasts, cellular phone networks, satellite data-links, slow-scan amateur video transmissions, baby monitors, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), and GPS navigation systems all use wireless technology. The use of encryption in communications is nothing new either. In fact, it's been used for centuries to protect sensitive messages, such as those sent from Caesar to his battlefield generals. The fa...