Abstract
Wireless networks are an integral part of day-to-day life for many people, with businesses and home users relying on them for connectivity and communication. This paper examines the problems relating to the topic of wireless security and the background literature. Following this, primary research has been undertaken that focuses on the current trend of wireless security. Previous work is used to create a timeline of encryption usage and helps to exhibit the differences between 2009 and 2012. Moreover, a novel 802.11 denial-of-service device has been created to demonstrate the way in which it is possible to design a new threat based on current technologies and equipment that is freely available. The findings are then used to produce recommendations that present the most appropriate countermeasures to the threats found.













References
Fluhrer, S. R., Mantirn, I., & Shamir, A. (2001). Weaknesses in the key scheduling algorithm RC4. In Proceeding SAC’01 revised papers from the 8th annual international workshop on selected areas in cryptography (pp. 1–24). London: Springer
Bradley, T., & Carvey, H. (2007). Essential computer security: everyone’s guide to email, internet, and wireless security. Rockland: Syngress.
Aircrack-ng. (2010). Aircrack-ng, Aircrack-ng Documentation, [Online]. Available at: http://www.aircrack-ng.org/doku.php?id=aircrack-ng. Accessed on: 20/10/12.
BT. (2010). Wireless Safety and Security, Wireless Safety and Security |Help| BT.com Help, [Online]. Available at: http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/13887/~/wireless---safety-and-security. Accessed on: 20/10/12.
Hurley, C., Barker, B., Hiser, R., Barnes, C., Kanclirz, J., Bautts, T., et al. (2006). How to cheat at securing a wireless network. Rockland: Syngress.
Pescatore, J., Young G., Ant Allan, A., Gerard, J., Feiman, J., & MacDonald, N. (2008). Gartner 2008 IT Security Threat Projection Timeline, [Online]. Available at: http://my.gartner.com/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=260&mode=2&PageID=3460702&resId=747229&ref=QuickSearch&sthkw=WEP. Accessed on: 20/10/12.
Beck, M. (2010). Enhanced TKIP Michael Attacks, [Online], Available from: http://download.aircrack-ng.org/wiki-files/doc/enhanced_tkip_michael.pdf. Accessed on: 20/10/12.
Beck, M., & Tews, E. (2008). Practical attacks against WEP and WPA, [Online], Available from: http://dl.aircrack-ng.org/breakingwepandwpa.pdf.
Ohigashi, T., & Morii, M. (2009). A practical message falsification attack on WPA, [Online]. Available at: http://jwis2009.nsysu.edu.tw/location/paper/A%20Practical%20Message%20Falsification%20Attack%20on%20WPA.pdf.
Chandra, P. (2005). Security and cryptography, bulletproof wireless security. Oxford: Newnes.
Tews, E., Weinmann, R. P., & Pyshkin, A. (2007). Breaking 104 bit WEP in less than 60 seconds, [Online] Available from: http://eprint.iacr.org/2007/120.pdf.
Hassinen, T. (2006). Overview of WLAN security. In Proceeding of seminar on network security, TKK T-110.5290, 2006
Renderlab. (2012). The Renderlab: Church of Wifi WPA-PSK Rainbow Tables, [online] Available from: http://www.renderlab.net/projects/WPA-tables/.
ASPj. (2009). ASPj’s WiFi Page, [online] Available from: http://homepages.tu-darmstadt.de/~p_larbig/wlan/#mdk3.
Kismet. (2012). Kismet, [Online] Available from: http://www.kismetwireless.net/.
Acknowledgments
The work reported in this paper has been supported by the Sino-UK Higher Education Research Partnership for Ph.D. Studies, Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China, RLTF e-learning Cloud Programme, National Natural Science Foundation of China Program (61202474 and 61272074), China 973 Fundamental R&D Program (2011CB302600) and Visiting Research Fellow Program of Tongji University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, L., Stimpson, T., Antonopoulos, N. et al. An Investigation of Security Trends in Personal Wireless Networks. Wireless Pers Commun 75, 1669–1687 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-013-1386-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-013-1386-3