Voice over Wireless Fidelity - Term Paper Example

Voice over Wireless Fidelity With the passage of time, there is explosive development in wireless computing, both in the organizations and at home, and this presents totally different security problems. The security problem of Wireless networks is different in homes as compare to organizations. In the organizations individuals setting up the network sometimes fail to understand the security requirements. The equipment of wireless networks comes with a default setting configured by the manufacturer. If this default setting is not changed then it gives benefit to hackers. Hackers, who know the default setting, can gain access to wireless network. In this way the network fails to require identification and verification of all users. Many Government and private sector organizations have installed high speed wireless networks. However, there is substantial variation in the security measures built into these networks. Wireless Fidelity, or as mentioned in this paper as Wi-Fi, is a rising technology that showed extensive signs of development, especially in 2003. The diagnoses for continued development are also significant for coming years. Both businesses and consumers have accepted Wi-Fi for a multiplicity of reasons including cost savings and convenience. In this paper we will focus on the adoption of Wi-Fi for the home consumer and explain some of the important considerations and issues when deciding to implement it. We will start this topic with a brief introduction of Wireless fidelity, and then we will discuss issues in wireless fidelity and disadvantages. Wireless Fidelity is an advanced technology adjacent the radio transmission of internet protocol data from an internet connection wirelessly to a host computer. Most often the internet connection is a higher speed one such as satellite, DSL or cable instead of slower dial-up connections. It is basically a wireless connection between consumer’s computer and the internet connection for instance, DSL router or cable modem in consumer’s house. One of the oldest and famous companies to endorse and sell Wi-Fi technologies to the home consumer is Apple Computer by means of the Wi-Fi transmitter called Airport. It was famous for its ease of use, Apple made connecting wirelessly to the internet from most anywhere in your house an easy job. Presently many other companies have effectively entered the marketplace and the greater part of laptop computers sold today are Wi-Fi enabled. Today Wi-Fi is not only available in the consumer’s house but also in what are referred to as Wi-Fi hotspots. These are generally public regions such as coffee shops or fast food restaurants where Wi-Fi signals are offered for internet access at a price. Wi-Fi networks make use of radio technologies called IEEE 802.11b or 802.11a to broadcast data from the internet connection to the host computer for instance, consumer’s laptop). These technologies present consistent and rapid wireless connectivity and to some degree a level of security. A Wi-Fi network can also be utilized to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wired networks. Wi-Fi networks carry out their functionality in the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands, with an 11 Mbps (802.11b) or 54 Mbps (802.11a) data rate or with products that include both bands (dual band), so they can present real-world performance comparable to the basic 10BaseT wired Ethernet networks used in many offices. The use of Wireless technologies is increasing rapidly and Wireless technology is much admired. So companies are exchanging their usual wired networks with wireless - even for non-mobile functions. There have been several warnings from security advisors regarding wireless protocols, Especially for WEP, being disgustingly insecure. Unauthorized access to wireless network can occur from different ways for example, when a user turns on a computer and it latches on to a wireless admittance point from a neighboring company’s overlapping network, the user may not even know that this has occurred. But, it is a security violate in that proprietary company information is exposed and now there could exist a link from one company to the other. If we talk about complexity and security in voice over wireless fidelity, wireless industry specialists promised new standards that should start appearing in products throughout next years. Security is a problem for wireless networks, since radio signals traveling through the open ambiance can be interrupted by individuals who can be continuously on the move, and hence hard to track down. Moreover, wireless elucidations are, almost universally, dependent on public-shared framework where one has much lesser control of, and knowledge about, the security control employed. In the past, when dial-in use was common and corporate networks had their own pools of modems, attackers would use a technique called "war-dialing" in which scripts would create huge chunks of random phone numbers and dial them, trying to locate a phone that would respond with a modem connection string. This type of mass dialing moved itself onto the Internet on one occasion the latter became the prevalent way of accessing information and computers, and it became even more ordinary and also more helpful by permitting attackers to not even need a phone line to knock on the doors of groups of computers, establish by randomly generating their Internet Protocol address. Presently, a number of illegal methods of accessing wireless networks, another legal method are quickly increasing in popularity. Several organizations now present wireless access to their customers. The collection of businesses is large, varying from car dealerships, to a large range of restaurants, coffee shops and hotels. Thousands of Starbucks across the country have Wi-Fi points accessible through T-Mobile. It should be noted that wireless hotspots accessible to T-Mobile are supported by the 802.1x standard and give support to WPA. It is consumer’s responsibility to put into practice these protections. It is not hard to eavesdrop on wireless connections. Even it is unlawful or at least unethical. In the wireless network, we basically use radio transceivers to achieve our call. Our voice or information broadcasted through the air on radio waves. We accept the data from the person we are talking with the same way. The most important thing is, radio waves are not directional. They scatter in all directions, and anyone who has proper radio receiver can listen in. Digital communications has made eavesdropping more complicated, but it is still possible. They are still radio waves. It takes more complicated mechanism to achieve the goal. Eavesdropping on wireless network is trivial, which require only a strong antenna. The better the antenna, the easier it is to eavesdrop on someones network. In the past, when dial-in use was common and corporate networks had their own pools of modems, attackers would use a technique called "war-dialing" in which scripts would create huge chunks of random phone numbers and dial them, trying to locate a phone that would respond with a modem connection string. This type of mass dialing moved itself onto the Internet on one occasion the latter became the prevalent way of accessing information and computers, and it became even more ordinary and also more helpful by permitting attackers to not even need a phone line to knock on the doors of groups of computers, establish by randomly generating their Internet Protocol address. In the present, wireless networks have suddenly become the target of War drivers. With the help of special software, an attacker can drive through any city or populated area, sampling the airwaves for wireless access points. Special war driving software maintains information concerning latitude, longitude, and configuration of the access points establish along the drivers route. This is the important thing to keep in mind when deploying your WAPs. Jamming a network is a crucial problem occurs in the wireless networks. The air in the region of offices is probable stopped up with wireless networks and devices like mobile phones and microwaves. That undetectable traffic jam can cause interference troubles with the Wi-Fi system. Large number of consumer use devices such as microwave ovens, baby monitors, and cordless phones operate on the unregulated 2.4GHz radio frequency. An attacker takes advantage of this and unleash large amount of noise by using these devices and jam the airwaves so that the signal to noise go down, in the result wireless network stop to function. The best solution to this problem is RF proofing the nearby atmosphere. The traffic analysis method consists of several jobs, such as data normalization and mining, traffic pattern recognition, protocol dissection and the reconstruction of application sessions. Traffic analysis was used in military circles even before the innovation of wire-less communications. Traffic analysis offers lower quality information as compare to cryptanalysis, but it is both easier and cheaper to extract and process. It is easy because ciphers need substantial effort to crack. And it is cheaper because traffic data can be without human intervention composed and processed to supply high level intelligence. Computers can clear traffic data and map out structures and locations, whereas a skilled human operator needs to listen to every radio broadcast to extract intelligence. That’s why traffic analysis is frequently used to carry out target selection for further intelligence collection such as more concentrated and exclusive observation, jamming or destruction. In Drive by Farming attack, attackers generate a Web page that comprises malevolent JavaScript code. When the Web page is viewed, this code, running in the context of your Web browser, uses a method known as “Cross Site Request Forgery” and logs into your local home broadband router. After successful login, the JavaScript code changes the router’s settings. In this attack, the attackers make changes in the settings on your home wireless router to read out which Domain Name System server we use. They can get us to use a server that they created themselves. This attack is potentially relatively devastating. Just viewing the web page in question is sufficient to cause the necessary damage. Some people fail to change their default password on their home broadband router; which is also a cause of this attack. Wireless data is proceeding at a predominantly swift clip, as more companies initiate more features for consumers and business users alike. From ring tones to picture phones, from text messaging to high-speed wireless Web browsing, wireless data is building waves in both the consumer and business marketplaces, Wheeler, President and CEO of CTIA. Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association - added. Total Service Revenues get higher almost 15% U.S. carriers produced service revenues of $41.4 billion in the first six months of 2003, greater from $36.7 billion in the first six months of 2002. Wi-Fi is a wireless technology works like a cell phone and offers fast and effortless connection from anywhere within the range of a base station. With Wi-Fi, an intact office can be moved, or new staff can be added exclusive of losing investment in networking installs or moving cables or installing complex hubs and switches. Wi-Fi technology is dominant and the networks make use of radio technologies called Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11b or 802.11a to present protected, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. Wi-Fi networks perform their functions in the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands, with an 11 Mbps (802.11b) or 54 Mbps (802.11a) data rate or with products that include both bands. Wi-Fi technology also allows voice over Internet protocol phones to be used in offices without the need of phone cabling. This would be mainly cost effective in new places where phone cabling is not installed. Many organizations offer wireless networks to their offsite and telecommuting workers to use at home or in remote offices and large companies often use Wi-Fi to join buildings. The public sector is starting to slot in Wi-Fi technology also. New York Police Department also uses wireless technology for its next generation agency-wide crime investigation system, permitting all city agencies to connect and evaluate, in real-time, crime patterns by location and frequency for better crime prevention. Federal Emergency Management Agency also uses wireless technology for disaster recovery efforts and to decide where to set emergency personnel. According to the META Research Group, organizations will speed up wireless expenses during the next two to three years. Fifty percent of organizations will have wireless e-mail in place which will flash a run on wireless application projects. Conclusion: Wi-Fi technologies have been growing into rural and under urbanized markets in the past few years. The technology has assisted consumers in rural areas get high-speed internet service. Wi-Fi hot spots are becoming more well-liked all through urban atmospheres. Wi-Fi technologies have helped bring down the cost of broadband internet access to urban and rural areas. It has also helped raise profits for Internet Service Providers by helping reduce monthly returning cost of back haul circuits. The excellence of service provided by a Vo-Wi-Fi system is extremely dependant on the underlying wireless network. The network must be premeditated with the appropriate amount of bandwidth and exposure and take into reflection the impact the atmosphere has on wireless signals, or troubles like signal choppiness, echo or call drop out will result. Organizations that use prognostic simulation technology can rapidly resolve whether a network design can maintain high data rate applications and meet the needs of the most challenging Vo-Wi-Fi users. References: Alex, T. & Markus, J. (2006). Warkitting: the Drive-by Subversion of Wireless Home Routers. The Journal of Digital Forensic Practice. Brenton, C. & Hunt, C. (2003). Network Security. 2nd Ed. New Delhi: BPB Publications. Danezis, G. (2005). Introducing Traffic Analysis Attacks, Defenses and Public Policy Issues. Belgium: K.U. Leuven, ESAT/COSIC. Hossein, B. (2005). The Handbook of Information Security. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Matthew, S. Gast., (2002). 802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide: O’Reilly & Associates. Verma. (2003). Bridging the Gap to Technology, Government White Paper. IACA conference. Glocol.Net. U.S. Virgin Islands. Zulfikar, R. (2006). Drive-By Pharming. Bloomington: Indiana University, Bloomington and RavenWhite, Inc. Read More