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Access points vulnerabilities to DoS attacks in 802.11 networks

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Abstract

We describe possible denial of service attacks to access points in infrastructure wireless networks using the 802.11b protocol. To carry out such attacks, only commodity hardware and software components are required. The experimental results obtained on a large set of different access points show that serious vulnerabilities exist in any device we tested and that a single malicious station can easily hinder any legitimate communication within a basic service set.

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References

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Correspondence to M. Bernaschi.

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Francesco Ferreri graduated in Software Engineering in 2004 at Rome University “Tor Vergata”. He then joined CASPUR (Italian Interuniversities Consortium for Supercomputing Applications) where he led research activities involving wireless networks and IPv6 integration. He’s currently employed at NaMeX, Rome’s Internet Exchange Point, as a network and systems engineer.

Leonardo Valcamonici graduated in Maths in 1994 at “La Sapienza” University in Rome. After that he joined CASPUR (Italian Interuniversities Consortium for Supercomputing Applications) where, in the beginning, he was involved in research activities in the field of parallel and distributed computing. After that he became a network and security engineer. He is now CASPUR’s Information Systems Security Officer and Network Applications and Services Team Leader.”

Massimo Bernaschi graduated in physics in 1987 at “Tor Vergata” University in Rome. After that he joined the IBM European Center for Scientific and Engineering Computing (ECSEC) in Rome. He spent ten years with IBM working in the field of parallel and distributed computing. Currently he is with the Italian National Research Council (CNR) as chief technology officer of the Institute for Computing Applications. Moreover, he is an adjunct professor of Computer Science in “La Sapienza” University in Rome.

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Bernaschi, M., Ferreri, F. & Valcamonici, L. Access points vulnerabilities to DoS attacks in 802.11 networks. Wireless Netw 14, 159–169 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11276-006-8870-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11276-006-8870-6

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