Real 802.11 Security: Wi-Fi Protected Access and 802.11i

Chapter 4. Different Types of Attack

Chapter 4 provides an overview of the different types of attack that a Wi-Fi LAN must defend against. Some types of attack are quite obvious, but many are subtle and done in unexpected ways. These subtle attacks are the most dangerous because they exploit our assumptions about where the vulnerabilities lie. We focus on attack concepts. Later, in Chapter 15, we provide a much more detailed and technical analysis for certain known attacks that have been successful against early Wi-Fi systems.

As we build our defenses, it is important to understand the types of attack we may encounter. The technical approach of an attack can vary from crude to sophisticated, but the fact that an attack is crude doesn't make it ...