Rogue Access Point Attacks

---

When we think about corporate networks, the corporate WLAN is an authorized and secured wireless portal to the network resources. A rogue access device (AP) is any WLAN radio that is connected to the corporate network (most often to some network switch) without the authorization.

Most of the rogue access points that are installed by employees (malicious users or by mistake) are actually not the same AP's that the IT department in the organization is using, but some Small-office home-office (SOHO) wireless routers - the same ones, that you probably have at home. In the situation when they are misconfigured or configured without any security - it opens a next attack surface for having easy access to a very secure network).

With the current evolution of the IT industry, rogue access point might be very well hidden and extremely hard to find. Would you be able to easily spot a Raspberry Pi connected to your network switch, if it would be placed at the back of the rack hidden in between hundreds of network cables? I can definitely say, you would NOT spot it at all!

If the network resources are exposed by a rogue access point, the following risks may be identified −

• Data Theft − Corporate data may be compromised.
• Data Destruction − Databases may be erased.
• Loss of Services − Network services can be disabled.
• Malicious Data Insertion − An attacker may use a portal to upload viruses, key loggers or pornography.
• 3^rd Party Attacks − A company's wired network may be used as a launching pad for 3^rd party attacks against other networks across the internet.