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Monthly archives for January, 2012

Wireless network security flaw found

Jan28th
2012
Written by Mike Pontillo

I’ve written here before about the importance of properly securing your home wireless network. Now comes word that a potential security flaw exists on newer wireless routers even if they have been properly secured and administered.

The flaw is with a relatively new feature called Wi-fi Protected Setup, or WPS. This feature is used to simplify the process of connecting wireless clients by using a short PIN code to connect, instead of the normal shared key or passphrase.

Setting up a wireless network can be a complicated and tedious process, and obviously anything that simplifies this for home users is a good thing. However, a security researcher has discovered a design defect in the WPS protocol that makes it possible for an intruder to penetrate a wireless network using a brute force approach.

This article from c|net explains the whole issue, if you would like to read the details.

The flaw is reported to affect router hardware from Buffalo, D-Link, Cisco, Linksys, Netgear, Technicolor, TP-Link, and ZyXEL – pretty much all the major vendors. The recommended solution is to disable your router’s WPS function entirely. Different manufacturers have alternative names for WPS. Buffalo calls it AOSS, and Cisco/Linksys refers to it as SES.

WPS is only useful when you are actually connecting a new device. Otherwise, it’s unnecessary. But if your router is configured to leave WPS active all the time, it’s a very good idea to disable the feature. The likelihood of an attack is somewhat remote on a home network, but there’s no reason to leave an exploit like this open if it’s easily addressed.

Security, Wireless networking

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