Wireless insecurity + ARP Poisoning
Robert Fleck, Cigital: Wireless insecurity + ARP Poisoning (pdf) (FAQ)
Observations:
- It’s true.
- It’s shameless security consultant self-promotion.
These are not new problems. - ARP poisoning is still a problem on wired networks too. VPN and/or encrypted security contexts (e.g. SSL) are the solution.
Related article:
DowJones: Security Experts Are on Alert Over Wireless-Hacking Technique. Quicken.com Oct 15 2001 6:32AM ET
“Mr. Fleck of Cigital combined those wireless vulnerabilities with an attack that has been identified and addressed in most wired networks. Known as ARP poisoning, from the acronym for address resolution protocol, the attack manipulates software in the circuit boards that connect computers to corporate networks. That software contains addresses of other connected machines; a skilled hacker can fool the software to make it seem like his machine has an authorized address to receive data packets on the network. An attacker who understood both techniques, Mr. Fleck said, could use a laptop with a wireless connection to enter a company’s wireless network, and then effectively tell machines on the wired portion of the network to pass all data packets through his laptop.
“The most obvious solution to the problem is to segregate the gateway device that acts as the front door for machines making wireless connections to a network. That can be done using routing devices or filtering programs known as firewalls.”
[via Moreover Computer security news]
