DefCon: Cisco WLAN AP tricked into committing suicide

Cisco Subnet — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:29:20 -0400

On Saturday AirTight at DefCon 16 will trick Cisco wireless LAN access points into committing suicide, reports Brad Reese. The company will share its findings about self destructive behavior spotted in select open source and commercial 802.11 APs. AirTight says it will demonstrate that by sending specially crafted packets, it is possible to trigger autoimmunity disorder and cause an AP to turn hostile against its own clients.

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Big-Time Wireless Security - As a Service

Craig Mathias — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:16:56 -0400

It's hard not to recommend some form of IDS/IPS in any enterprise-class WLAN installation. But there's usually some pushback when it comes to the price of this capability; after all, we're installing sensors and servers and software and the cost can add up quickly. Some organizations thus (foolishly, I believe) forgo having a suitable IDS/IPS installed. I'm personally so concerned about WLAN security that I have a small-business-class IDS/IPS system installed in my office, protecting all of six APs.

On the other hand - and hearing about this was a smack-myself-in-the-forehead moment - why not provision IDS/IPS as a service, effectively leasing the infrastructure and offering the rest as a managed service?

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