Hack Proofing Your Wireless Network (Paperback)

by Syngress (Author), Eric Ouellet (Author), Neal O'Farrell (Author) "When the concept of a network without wires was first suggested more than two decades ago, it sparked the imagination of scientists, product vendors, and..." (more)
Key Phrases: audit report presentation, collocation architecture, consistent authorization rules, Frequently Asked Questions, Solutions Fast Track, Wired Equivalent Privacy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
With the arrival of IEEE 802.11b (a.k.a. WiFi) and other wireless networking technologies on the market comes a wave of stories about snoops intercepting sensitive LAN traffic from out in the company parking lot or across the concourse at the airport. Hack Proofing Your Wireless Network takes a look at strategies for defending wireless LANs--those based on Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11a as well as WiFi--against signal interception and other attacks peculiar to their wireless nature. Unfortunately, there's also a lot of background information on WiFi (as well as on security principles in general), and this is related to wireless network security only tangentially. Though this material represents unneeded padding, the bulk of the book is made up of useful information about security strategies and defensive configuration. There's also a fair bit of information about the security characteristics of some top-selling wireless networking products.

In a section on choosing WiFi access points, the authors give a very explicit list of requirements (the ability to disable service-set identifier broadcasts, 128-bit Wired Equivalent Protocol--WEP--and so on), and list at least three real products (by make and model) that fit the specifications. They then proceed to show how to choose the most secure configuration options on each of the featured products, including the Cisco Systems Aironet and the Agere ORiNOCO. Configuration instructions are easy to follow and illustrated in detail. Information on the offensive side of the equation is shallower--the authors point out that it's possible to drive around, looking for unsecured wireless access points and that WEP has security flaws. Still, this book is one of the first on security for wireless networks, and it provides a lot of good information to the administrators of such networks. --David Wall

Topics covered: The special security characteristics of wireless networks (primarily including, but not limited to, those operating under the IEEE 802.11 standards) and some recommended procedures for the administrators of such networks. Wired Equivalent Protocol (WEP), MAC filtering, and virtual private networks (VPNs) tailored for use in wireless environments get particularly admirable coverage.

Product Description
Traditionally, someone had to be sitting in front of your computer to read your documents, see your e-mail, and play with your settings. Today, however, someone can be sitting in the office next door, a few floors up, or even in the next building, and have the same abilities as if he were in front of your computer. Are you using an 802.11 or Bluetooth device on your computer? Are you using a PDA to communicate with other systems or to get onto the Internet? Are you using a cellular phone to initiate a network connection back to your office? Have you just set up the latest wireless gateway at home? Are you planning on implementing a wireless solution in your office? Then you need Hack Proofing Your Wireless Network.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Syngress; 1 edition (February 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1928994598
• ISBN-13: 978-1928994596
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,257,548 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good info throughout, but this 1st Ed should be 256 pages, April 2, 2002

By	Richard Bejtlich "TaoSecurity.com" (Metro Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Hack Proofing Your Wireless Network" (HPYWN) weighs in at 512 pages, but it could easily be half that size. While the book contains good information, its internal redundancy and inclusion of security advice not specific to wireless adds unnecessary pages. I recommend security professionals skim HPYWN for the material they need, and skip the generic network protection advice.

Unlike the attack-minded "Hack Proofing Your Network, 2nd Ed", HPYWN is indeed a defensive-oriented book. It offers strong overviews of widely deployed wireless technologies. These include modern cellular networks and wireless area networks created by 802.11, Bluetooth, and HomeRF. HPYWN offers sound advice on making the best use of available wireless defensive mechanisms, despite acknowledging that Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is "broken." An overview of popular wireless assessment tools like Netstumbler is helpful although not especially thorough...

Of the book's nine chapters, chapters 2 (A Security Primer, 50 pages) and 8 (Auditing, 43 pages) don't add anything original to the current body of published security books. Furthermore, many wireless security topics are discussed repeatedly. For example, I didn't need to read in chapters 1, 4, 5, and 6 that WEP's insecurities stem from weak Initialization Vectors. Other recommendations on changing default configurations, enabling logging, and so on also appear in multiple sections. The editor should have consolidated this information to avoid wasting the reader's time.

Overall, Syngress should be credited for getting into the wireless game with this book. I would have preferred to see protocol decodes, thorough documentation and usage examples for wireless assessment tools, and in-depth VPN deployment guidance. Should the second edition of HPYWN contain this information, it will justify its current page count.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential book for wireless security, March 19, 2002

By	Leonard Russell (Newark) - See all my reviews

Our company is in the midst of several large scale wireless deployments, and security is one of our primary concerns. This book does a great job of detailing all of the vulnerabilities and attacks, and presents real solutions for preventing attacks and data or services being compromised. There are some good wireles books out there now, but this is the one to get if you want something really focused on security.

5.0 out of 5 stars Beam Your Data Through The Air Securely, February 10, 2005

By	Tony Bradley "s3kur3.com" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

Hack Proofing Your Wireless Network is an invaluable resource for implementing or administering a wireless network. War Driving (searching for random insecure wireless networks) is happening all over. To keep your personal and confidential information private and to keep prying eyes from surfing your wireless network or hujacking your bandwidth you need to make sure you do everything you can to secure your wireless network. The case studies, Security Alerts, FAQ's and other features of this book all help to provide a comprehensive, must-read book on wireless network security. If you are new to the concept this book is written in a way that you will understand. Even if you know this stuff, this book should be kept close as a reference.

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