for ultimate wifi security, you need to get my company's solutions. We make NSA certified 802.11b access points and network cards. Of course YOU can't buy them

WEP is a joke; you should use WPA (only newer stuff does that) or WEP+MAC filtering. Those 2 together are pretty much undefeatable, unless someone knows the accepted MAC address.

 

Working for Harris, I would think you would know that WEP (even +MAC filtering) is very easily defeatable. WPA isn't much harder either...

 

I've wondered about MAC filtering - sure, that'll block an unauthorized person from communicating with the access point, but it doesn't do anything to stop them listening in on the communication between your devices and the access point, does it?

 

no, but you'd have to have some VERY sophisticated equipment to decipher what was being transmitted on even an unsecured wifi link.

Mac filtering basically makes it so that only one with an approved MAC can establish a 2-way link with the access point.

 

Don't wanna hijack this thread, but steven975 what the heck are you talking about? VERY sophisticated equipment? I've been sniffing 802.11 for years on my aging P3-600MHz laptop. Not sophisticated by any means at all. MAC filtering isn't difficult defeat....it's super easy to fake MACs.

Maybe you're talking about a certain situation (perhaps with your company equip.), but in general, MAC filtering and WEP cracking is simple.

 

i'm talking about intercepting info transmitted over 802.11b. like a client putting in a password. you'd need nice equipment to decipher that.

to crack mac filtering, you need to KNOW the mac.

 

Here's one thing I do know for sure, nothing is secure, nothing.

Using WEP is better than not using it. It at least stops casual sniffers. Today, there are readily available tools for most attackers to crack the WEP keys. Airsnort and others tools take a lot of packets (several million) to get the WEP key, on most networks this takes longer than most people are willing to wait. If the network is very busy, the WEP key can be cracked and obtained within 15 minutes.

 

Some Access Points have the ability to filter only trusted MAC addresses. MAC addresses are suppose to be unique addresses on the network. This feature is usually very difficult to implement in a dynamic environment due to the tedious nature of trying to configure AP for each and every trusted client. The MAC address is transmitted in the clear text, so any intruder can sniff authorized MAC addresses, and with proper tools, configure and masquerade their MAC address as a legitimate MAC address and by-pass this security mechanism. Enabling this security feature can be more effort than the actual security benefit that it provides.

 

[QUOTE=steven975,Dec 18 2004, 12:42 PM] i'm talking about intercepting info transmitted over 802.11b.

 

Spoofing a MAC is easy, finding out valid MACs are even easier, all you have to do is sniff.

Figuring out a password from a client is not a 802.11 sniff/decipher issue, cracking that password depends on how it is encrypted within the data packet, not how the packet itself is protected. There's no refuting it, standard wifi WEP is easy to hack, plain and simple. Bigger keys would help, but all I have to do is capture more traffic.