Alan Stevens

Wireless network security is one of those things we are continually told to worry about, but it takes a personal experience of the problems to really ram the message home. And such experiences are becoming all too common as wireless technology proliferates.

A couple of weeks ago, my son wanted to configure a network in his newly rented house. Wireless was the obvious answer and he duly acquired a couple of 802.11g adapters together with a suitable router for his broadband cable connection.

As it turned out he didn't really need the router, or broadband for that matter. No fewer than three unencrypted wireless LANs were to be found in the vicinity, two of which let him connect to the internet using their gateways with no restrictions whatsoever.

Similarly a friend out visiting a technologically-challenged relative last weekend was able to book a holiday online using a laptop and a "borrowed" wireless internet connection. In this instance, a total of five networks were to be found proudly broadcasting their SSID names and ready to furnish client addresses to anyone brazen enough to request them.

Most of the networks involved here were of the domestic variety and a few did not even have an access point, just a wireless adapter in a PC that had been left switched on. You can kind of understand those home users ignoring security - if they considered it at all. But there were business networks there too, probably with tight firewall protection on their internet links, yet nothing on the wireless side.

This state of affairs is not necessarily the fault of the network administrator - it is all too common for users to plug in their own wireless access points, blissfully unaware of the possible consequences.

But consider how dire those consequences could be, especially when you think about some of the wireless networks I have "found", many of which provided access to a whole lot more than just a free internet ride. I would have been able to link to everything from homework assignments to large corporate databases, all of which were easily accessible over the airwaves.

It does not take a lot of imagination to understand the kind of havoc someone with a grudge could wreak in such cases, let alone a determined hacker. But nor does it take much effort to keep such people out and ensure your wireless networks and data remain private.

WEP encryption may get a bad press, but it works. Plus it is supported by virtually everyone and is very easy to apply - just tick the box and type in the key.

Tracking down rogue interfaces is harder but not that difficult with tools such as Net Stumbler, that can be downloaded from the web to help. All you need then is a notebook and the time to scan the locality, ignoring other people's unprotected networks of course.

Inevitably it is densely populated urban areas that are most likely to suffer these problems. I've searched in vain for stray wireless signals to overcome my own lack of broadband connectivity, but unfortunately out here in suburbs the houses are a bit further apart and, even with a high gain antenna, the best I've come up with is a distant neighbour with dial-up. Still I live (and continue to search) in hope.

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