Tips & Tricks

Your Tablet PC and Wireless Security

Overview

The well understood benefits and low equipment costs of wireless networking have led to large deployments of wireless networking technology. The Tablet PC, by design, stands to be a big benefactor of the growth of these wireless networks. The benefits, however, do not come without some potential risks.

Wireless networking poses security threats and issues that are often left unaddressed despite the readily available security mechanisms. By understanding the security vulnerabilities and the available control mechanisms, users can address the security issues of their 802.11 wireless networks and their Tablet PC.

Wireless Networking Vulnerabilities

Wireless networking security issues are associated with unauthorized network access and communication eavesdropping. These vulnerabilities can lead to other potentially more serious security breaches.

By gaining access to a wireless access point, the intruder can obtain credentials to access the core network or access to a hard drive. Once access is obtained, the intruder can:

• Install back doors
• Load viruses
• Delete or steal data.

Communication eavesdropping can provide the intruder with sensitive information like:

• User ids
• Passwords
• Account information
• Access to sensitive email or data

Wireless networks present security problems but there are mechanisms that exist to address many of the vulnerabilities. So what are some of the methods available to reduce the vulnerabilities of wireless networking?

1. Change the Service Set ID (SSID) of your wireless access point. A default SSID signals a potential open access point and attackers will typically start their wireless attack on those systems. Select an SSID that has little meaning to someone on the outside. Do not use an SSID that creates a perception of something sensitive or important. For example an SSID named Bank AP is an invitation to hackers that you have bank/cash related information on your network.

2. Enable the highest level of WEP supported by your hardware. Although WEP is not completely secure, it will provide another hurdle for the intruder to overcome. This is accomplished by enabling WEP on the Access Point (AP) and your Tablet PC.

The following example shows a Linksys AP configuration with the SSID disabled and WEP security enabled.

1. Turn off "Ad-Hoc" networking. This feature allows an intruder to access the network by going through your PC and your wireless connection. If you need to use "Ad-Hoc" networking only enable it when you need it and be sure to turn it off when done.

2. Configure your access point to use a MAC based access control list. Only devices with recognized MAC addresses will be allowed access. For large business networks this can be difficult to maintain. The following example shows how to enable MAC filtering using a Linksys AP.

3. Disable the broadcasting of the access point SSID. By not broadcasting the SSID, the access point is not as visible to a wireless sniffing device and not as susceptible to drive-by attacking. Not all vendors support the "no broadcast" feature so check your equipment provider documentation.

Summary

The only way to 100% secure your wireless network is to turn it off. However, when turned off, the wireless access will not work too well. By activating more security mechanisms, you will be able to thwart off most of the attacks. The root cause of most of the wireless networking vulnerabilities is that the mechanisms are typically defaulted to off and do not provide any protection as configured from the factory. The user must activate the mechanisms to provide the desired level of protection and access control.