Wireless Deauthentication

Question 1

It started as a normal day

Answer 1

• Surfing along on your wireless network
  
  • And then you’re not
• And then it happens again
  
  • And again
• You may not be able to stop it
  
  • There’s (almost) nothing you can do
  • Time to get a long patch cable
• Wireless deauthentication
  
  • A significant wireless denial of service (DoS) attack

Question 2

802.11 management frames

Answer 2

• 802.11 wireless includes a number of management
features

• Frames that make everything work
  
  • You never see them

• Important for the operation of 802.11 wireless
• How to find access points, manage QoS, associate/
disassociate with an access point, etc.

• Original wireless standards did not add protection for
management frames
• Sent in the clear
• No authentication or validation

Question 3

Protecting against disassociation

Answer 3

• IEEE has already addressed the problem
  
  • 802.11w - July 2014

• Some of the important management frames are
encrypted
• Disassociate, deauthenticate, channel switch
announcements, etc.

• Not everything is encrypted
  
  • Beacons, probes, authentication, association
  • Cart before the horse
• 802.11w is required for 802.11ac compliance
  
  • This will roll out going forward