Wi-Fi Technology

Agenda
• Introduction
• Wi-Fi Technologies
• Wi-Fi Architecture
• Wi-Fi Network Elements
• How a Wi-Fi Network Works
• Wi-Fi Network Topologies
• Wi-Fi Configurations
• Applications of Wi-Fi
• Wi-Fi Security
• Advantages/ Disadvantages of Wi-Fi
 Introduction
• Wireless Technology is an alternative to Wired
Technology, which is commonly used, for
connecting devices in wireless mode.

• Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) is a generic term that

refers to the IEEE 802.11 communications
standard for Wireless Local Area Networks
(WLANs).

• Wi-Fi Network connect computers to each other,

to the internet and to the wired network.
 The Wi-Fi Technology
Wi-Fi Networks use Radio Technologies to
transmit & receive data at high speed:

• IEEE 802.11b
• IEEE 802.11a
• IEEE 802.11g
 IEEE 802.11b

• Appear in late 1999

• Operates at 2.4GHz radio spectrum
• 11 Mbps (theoretical speed) - within 30 m Range
• 4-6 Mbps (actual speed)
• 100 -150 feet range
• Most popular, Least Expensive
• Interference from mobile phones and Bluetooth
devices which can reduce the transmission
speed.
 IEEE 802.11a
• Introduced in 2001
• Operates at 5 GHz (less popular)
• 54 Mbps (theoretical speed)
• 15-20 Mbps (Actual speed)
• 50-75 feet range
• More expensive
• Not compatible with 802.11b
 IEEE 802.11g

• Introduced in 2003
• Combine the feature of both standards
(a,b)
• 100-150 feet range
• 54 Mbps Speed
• 2.4 GHz radio frequencies
• Compatible with ‘b’
 802.11 Physical Layer
There are three sublayers in physical layer:

• Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)

• Frequency Hoping Spread Spectrum (FHSS)
• Diffused Infrared (DFIR) - Wide angle
 DSSS
• Direct sequence signaling technique divides the 2.4 GHz band into
11 22-MHz channels. Adjacent channels overlap one another
partially, with three of the 11 being completely non-overlapping.
Data is sent across one of these 22 MHz channels without hopping
to other channels.
IEEE 802.11 Data Link Layer
The data link layer consists of two sublayers :

• Logical Link Control (LLC)

• Media Access Control (MAC).

802.11 uses the same 802.2 LLC and 48-bit addressing as other
802 LANs, allowing for very simple bridging from wireless to
IEEE wired networks, but the MAC is unique to WLANs.
 802.11 Media Access Control
• Carrier Sense Medium Access with collision
avoidance protocol (CSMA/CA)
• Listen before talking
• Avoid collision by explicit Acknowledgement (ACK)
• Problem: additional overhead of ACK packets, so slow
performance
• Request to Send/Clear to Send (RTS/CTS)
protocol
• Solution for “hidden node” problem
• Problem: Adds additional overhead by temporarily
reserving the medium, so used for large size packets only
retransmission would be expensive
 802.11 Media Access
Control(cont.)
• Power Management
• MAC supports power conservation to extend the battery life of
portable devices
• Power utilization modes
• Continuous Aware Mode
• Radio is always on and drawing power
• Power Save Polling Mode
• Radio is “dozing” with access point queuing any data for it
• The client radio will wake up periodically in time to receive
regular beacon signals from the access point.
• The beacon includes information regarding which stations have
traffic waiting for them
• The client awake on beacon notification and receive its data
 802.11 Media Access
Control(cont.)
• Fragmentation
• CRC checksum
• Each pkt has a CRC checksum calculated
and attached to ensure that the data was not
corrupted in transit
• Association & Roaming
 Elements of a WI-FI Network
• Access Point (AP) - The AP is a wireless LAN
transceiver or “base station” that can connect one or many
wireless devices simultaneously to the Internet.

• Wi-Fi cards - They accept the wireless signal and relay

information.They can be internal and external.(e.g PCMCIA
Card for Laptop and PCI Card for Desktop PC)

• Safeguards - Firewalls and anti-virus software protect

networks from uninvited users and keep information secure.
 How a Wi-Fi Network Works
• Basic concept is same as Walkie talkies.
• A Wi-Fi hotspot is created by installing an access point
to an internet connection.
• An access point acts as a base station.
• When Wi-Fi enabled device encounters a hotspot the
device can then connect to that network wirelessly.
• A single access point can support up to 30 users and
can function within a range of 100 – 150 feet indoors and
up to 300 feet outdoors.
• Many access points can be connected to each other via
Ethernet cables to create a single large network.
 Wi-Fi Network Topologies
• AP-based topology (Infrastructure Mode)

• Peer-to-peer topology (Ad-hoc Mode)

• Point-to-multipoint bridge topology

 AP-based topology
• The client communicate through Access Point.
• BSA-RF coverage provided by an AP.
• ESA-It consists of 2 or more BSA.
• ESA cell includes 10-15% overlap to allow
roaming.
 Peer-to-peer topology
• AP is not required.
• Client devices within
a cell can
communicate directly
with each other.
• It is useful for setting
up of a wireless
network quickly and
easily.
Point-to-multipoint bridge topology
This is used to connect a LAN in one building to a LANs
in other buildings even if the buildings are miles
apart.These conditions receive a clear line of sight
between buildings. The line-of-sight range varies based
on the type of wireless bridge and antenna used as well
as the environmental conditions.
Wi-Fi Configurations
Wi-Fi Configurations
Wi-Fi Configurations
 Wi-Fi Applications
• Home
• Small Businesses or SOHO
• Large Corporations & Campuses
• Health Care
• Wireless ISP (WISP)
• Travellers
 Wi-Fi Security Threats
• Wireless technology doesn’t remove any
old security issues, but introduces new
ones
• Eavesdropping
• Man-in-the-middle attacks
• Denial of Service
 Eavesdropping
• Easy to perform, almost impossible to detect
• By default, everything is transmitted in clear text
• Usernames, passwords, content ...
• No security offered by the transmission medium
• Different tools available on the internet
• Network sniffers, protocol analysers . . .
• Password collectors
• With the right equipment, it’s possible to
eavesdrop traffic from few kilometers away
 MITM Attack
1. Attacker spoofes a
disassociate message
from the victim
2. The victim starts to
look for a new access
point, and the attacker
advertises his own AP
on a different channel,
using the real AP’s
MAC address
3. The attacker connects
to the real AP using
victim’s MAC address
 Denial of Service
• Attack on transmission frequecy used
• Frequency jamming
• Not very technical, but works
• Attack on MAC layer
• Spoofed deauthentication / disassociation messages
• can target one specific user
• Attacks on higher layer protocol (TCP/IP protocol)
• SYN Flooding
 Wi-Fi Security
The requirements for Wi-Fi network
security can be broken down into two
primary components:
• Authentication
 User Authentication
 Server Authentication
• Privacy
 Authentication
• Keeping unauthorized users off the network
• User Authentication
• Authentication Server is used
• Username and password
• Risk:
• Data (username & password) send before secure channel
established
• Prone to passive eavesdropping by attacker
• Solution
• Establishing a encrypted channel before sending username
and password
 Authentication (cont..)
• Server Authentication
• Digital Certificate is used
• Validation of digital certificate occurs
automatically within client software
 Wi-Fi Security Techniques
• Service Set Identifier (SSID)

• Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)

• 802.1X Access Control

• Wireless Protected Access (WPA)

• IEEE 802.11i
 Service Set Identifier (SSID)
• SSID is used to identify an 802.11 network
• It can be pre-configured or advertised in
beacon broadcast
• It is transmitted in clear text
• Provide very little security
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
• Provide same level of security as by wired network
• Original security solution offered by the IEEE 802.11
standard
• Uses RC4 encryption with pre-shared keys and 24 bit
initialization vectors (IV)
• key schedule is generated by concatenating the shared
secret key with a random generated 24-bit IV
• 32 bit ICV (Integrity check value)
• No. of bits in keyschedule is equal to sum of length of
the plaintext and ICV
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
(cont.)
• 64 bit preshared key-WEP
• 128 bit preshared key-WEP2
• Encrypt data only between 802.11 stations.once it enters
the wired side of the network (between access point)
WEP is no longer valid
• Security Issue with WEP
• Short IV
• Static key
• Offers very little security at all
 802.1x Access Control
• Designed as a general purpose network access control mechanism
• Not Wi-Fi specific
• Authenticate each client connected to AP (for WLAN) or switch port
(for Ethernet)
• Authentication is done with the RADIUS server, which ”tells” the
access point whether access to controlled ports should be allowed
or not
• AP forces the user into an unauthorized state
• user send an EAP start message
• AP return an EAP message requesting the user’s identity
• Identity send by user is then forwared to the authentication server by AP
• Authentication server authenticate user and return an accept or reject
message back to the AP
• If accept message is return, the AP changes the client’s state to
authorized and normal traffic flows
802.1x Access Control
 Wireless Protected Access (WPA)
• WPA is a specification of standard based, interoperable security
enhancements that strongly increase the level of data protection and
access control for existing and future wireless LAN system.
• User Authentication
• 802.1x
• EAP
• TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) encryption
• RC4, dynamic encryption keys (session based)
• 48 bit IV
• per packet key mixing function
• Fixes all issues found from WEP
• Uses Message Integrity Code (MIC) Michael
• Ensures data integrity
• Old hardware should be upgradeable to WPA
 Wireless Protected Access (WPA)
(cont.)
• WPA comes in two flavors
• WPA-PSK
• use pre-shared key
• For SOHO environments
• Single master key used for all users
• WPA Enterprise
• For large organisation
• Most secure method
• Unique keys for each user
• Separate username & password for each user
 WPA and Security Threats
• Data is encrypted
• Protection against eavesdropping and man-in-the-
middle attacks
• Denial of Service
• Attack based on fake massages can not be used.
• As a security precaution, if WPA equipment sees
two packets with invalid MICs within a second, it
disassociates all its clients, and stops all activity for
a minute
• Only two packets a minute enough to completely
stop a wireless network
 802.11i
• Provides standard for WLAN security
• Authentication
• 802.1x
• Data encryption
• AES protocol is used
• Secure fast handoff-This allow roaming
between APs without requiring client to
fully reauthenticate to every AP.
• Will require new hardware
 Advantages
• Mobility
• Ease of Installation
• Flexibility
• Cost
• Reliability
• Security
• Use unlicensed part of the radio spectrum
• Roaming
• Speed
 Limitations
• Interference
• Degradation in performance
• High power consumption
• Limited range