Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Rogue Access Point Detection?

Posted by Cliff on from the plugging-the-holes dept.

Yossarian2000 asks: "With all the media attention WLANs have been getting lately, more and more businesses seem to be looking to better understand their implications as relates to company intranets. Whether a business is running a WLAN or not, detecting rogue access points is essential to maintaining some degree of security. Currently, it seems there are few options for detecting APs: subnet scans (which add overhead to the network and can still miss some APs), handheld devices (which require regular site surveys), and systems that use existing access points to detect rogues (this assumes you have APs covering your entire site). Has anyone heard of better methods for the detection of rogue APs?"

1 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. Rules and Trust by fm6 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I think I agree with the attitude you're expressing. But you're kind of oversimplifying the issue.

    In a really, well-run company, the CIO will tell the CEO, "we have a problem with rogue APs". The CEO tells the VPs, who tell the department managers. The managers bring it up in department meetings. Because the managers have good working relationships with all their subordinates, they figure out who has APs and which ones need to be hardened. Problem solved, and no Big Brother nonsense necessary.

    In the real world, no company is that well run. This manager or VP doesn't get along with his or her subordinates. That one is a control freak. This employee doesn't see what the big deal is, and won't let anybody look at his AP. That one never goes to department meetings, doesn't take orders from anybody, and has so much seniority that...

    Oops, the trauma of my last job is showing! Point is, not all problems end up being solved by management/worker trust and collaboration. It's certainly desireable that you solve as many problems that way as you can. But there's always something you end up having to enforce with rules and snooping, and other nasty stuff. When that sort of thing gets out of hand, the company is probably in deep trouble. But you always have to deal with some of it.