Publication Date

2007

Degree Type

Master's Project

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Computer Science

Abstract

Wireless networks have become an integral part of today’s networks. The ease of deployment, low cost, mobility and high data rates have contributed significantly to their popularity. The medium of data transmission in wireless networks makes them inherently less secure than wired networks. For wireless networks to access the Internet they must be connected to a wired network via an Access Point or a wireless router. This has led wireless network equipment manufacturers to implement wireless Access Points and wireless routers with a built in switch for wired clients and a WiFi access point for wireless clients. The set up within the equipment is such that the wired and wireless networks are internally bridged together such that they are in a single Local Area Network (LAN). This mix of wired and wireless networks poses a new class of attacks on wired networks via insecure wireless LANs. One such class of attack is the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) Cache Poisoning attack. Depending on the wireless LAN set-up, previously secure wired networks may become vulnerable to attacks from wireless clients in the same LAN as the wired client. My project aims to develop a solution to prevent ARP Cache Poisoning attacks in a wireless Access Point-based network, involving wireless and wired clients. I have proposed a design to prevent ARP cache poisoning attacks and, as a proofof- concept, have implemented the design in a Wireless router manufactured by Linksys.

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