Points of Vulnerability

Beyond wireless DoS attacks, there are several points of vulnerability
within your WLAN that can be disrupted or destroyed by knowledgeable
hackers who are trying to corrupt your wireless infrastructure. The most
vulnerable points include those shown in Figure 3.2. These points are:


Access points

Antennas

Wireless NICs

Cable connectors

Hardware servers

Software bugs and viruses
It is simple to infect software from virtually anywhere. However,
what is not commonly known is that hackers can send firmware upgrade
attacks to your wireless router and access point. The firmware in these
devices is a software file that updates your device to take advantage of
new features and functionality. If a hacker gains access to this device,
he can rewrite a valid firmware file or simply corrupt it and fail to load
the firmware correctly onto the access point, thus rendering the device
completely unusable.
Servers and software can be infected by any number of viruses, but
most newly made viruses can look for adapter connectivity and wireless
network adapters to corrupt the means by which the server communicates
with these devices on your network

The goal of these types of attacks is either of the following:
1. Complete shutdown of your wireless networking devices
2. Corrupting your signal to reduce throughput to zero


Shutting down your wireless networking devices cuts off your entire
network, but your company can easily purchase a new component. However,
if the hacker corrupts your WLAN so that your throughput is greatly
reduced, it is far more difficult to determine whether the problem is
hardware or software related. In the meantime, users have such slow
traffic on your network that your WLAN becomes virtually unusable.
Shutting down your network can involve something as simple as having
the hacker gain access to your premises or having someone access
your premises on his behalf (such as a janitor or cleaning crew who was
paid money to sabotage your network systems). See Figure 3.4. Your
network can be sabotaged by:

Disrupting the connections between access points

Cutting the connection from the wired LAN to the WLAN

Isolating various access points so that they cannot communicate from
one cell to another, thereby cutting your overall reception

Cutting power to one or several access points


In addition, it is common for a hacker to use a registered wireless
NIC transmitter to cause interference and disrupt network traffic.
Furthermore, disrupting any connection to the server, wired LAN, or
network resources can destroy the validity of your network in a number
of ways causing damage, lost time, and lost work. 65