On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 11:16:41 -0800, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:
"Windows 7 Annoyances" has a good discussion of wireless security.
"Windoze Annoyances" is redundant. Windoze is one big annoyance.
I got into one of those discussions on some forum. It might have been
Annoyances, but I don't recall. My pitch line was the PSK (pre-shared
key) style security sucks, because if I had access to just one machine
on the network, which has the WPA2 pass phrase saved (and encrypted)
in the registry, I could recover the hash and crack the encryption.
Users also tend to write down passwords on post it notes, which can be
found in most offices.
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wireless_key.html
What's needed is a one time password, with a user unique login and
password. That's exactly what WPA2-Enterprise does. You login with a
user name and password. The RADIUS server authorizes the user, 802.1x
authenticates the connection, and maybe additional authentication with
an X.509 certificate on a flash drive. The wireless access point then
delivers a one time maximum length password. The password is only
good for the current session. Nothing to write down or sniff.
The problem is that few wireless routers and access points have built
in RADIUS servers. You would need either a stand alone Linux box
running FreeRadius:
http://freeradius.org
or an account on one of the assorted online RADIUS servers. For
example:
http://cloudessa.com (Free for up to 10 users)
I had no
trouble configuring my Linksys router.
Router setup is fairly easy, if you know what the buzzwords mean, can
follow instructions, and understand why one needs wireless security.
The sometimes included setup disk is also handy, but I don't use it.
What happens next is somewhat predictable. One day, the internet goes
down. You call your ISP asking for assistance. After dealing with
the basics, it's still down, so support suggest your reset your
router. Just press the little button in back and everything is back
to defaults. Like magic, it works and you're on your way. The
problem is that is also clears all the security. To AT&T's credit,
they no longer do that. Same with most large ISP's. However, I'm
constantly running into users that have reset their routers trying to
solve a problem, and then was wonder why the whole neighborhood is
using their wireless. I suggest you backup your working settings to a
file. When your router goes nuts, reset it, restore the backup, and
it should work.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558