Hacking Exposed Wireless: Wireless Security Secrets & Solutions 3rd Edition

Book Name: Hacking Exposed Wireless: Wireless Security Secrets & Solutions 3rd Edition
Author: Joshua Wright, Johnny Cache
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
ISBN-10, 13: 0071827633,978-0071827638
Year: 2014
Pages: 544 pages
Language: English
File size: 36 MB
File format: PDF,EPUB

Hacking Exposed Wireless: Wireless Security Secrets & Solutions 3rd Edition Pdf Book Description:

Welcome to Hacking Exposed Wireless. This first chapter is designed to give you a brief introduction to 802.11 and help you choose the right 802.11 gear for the job. By the end of the chapter, you should have a basic understanding of how 802.11 networks operate, as well as answers to common questions, including what sort of card, GPS, and antenna to buy. You will also understand how wireless discovery tools such as Kismet work. 802.11 in a Nutshell The 802.11 standard defines a link-layer wireless protocol and is managed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Many people think of Wi-Fi when they hear 802.11, but they are not quite the same thing. Wi-Fi is a subset of the 802.11 standard, which is managed by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Because the 802.11 standard is so complex, and the process required to update the standard so involved (it’s run by a committee), nearly all of the major wireless equipment manufacturers decided they needed a smaller, more nimble group dedicated to maintaining interoperability among vendors while promoting the technology through marketing efforts.

This resulted in the creation of the Wi-Fi Alliance The Wi-Fi Alliance ensures that all products with a Wi-Fi–certified logo work together for a given set of functions. This way, if any ambiguity in the 802.11 standard crops up, the Wi-Fi Alliance defines the “right thing” to do. The alliance also allows vendors to implement important subsets of draft standards (standards that have not yet been ratified). The most well-known example of this is Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) or “draft” 802.11n equipment.Most people know that 802.11 provides wireless access to wired networks with the use of an access point (AP). In what is commonly referred to as ad-hoc or Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS) mode, 802.11 can also be used without an AP. Because those concerned about wireless security are not usually talking about ad-hoc networks, and because the details of the 802.11 protocol change dramatically when in ad-hoc mode, this section covers running 802.11 in infrastructure mode (with an AP), unless otherwise specified. The 802.11 standard divides all packets into three different categories: data, management, and control. These different categories are known as the packet type. Data packets are used to carry higher-level data (such as IP packets). Management packets are probably the most interesting to attackers; they control the management of the network. Control packets get their name from the term “media access control.” They are used for mediating access to the shared medium.