Enterprise WLAN Security Flaws Current Attacks and relative Mitigations

The Increasing number of mobiles and handheld devices that allow wireless access to enterprise data and services is considered a major concern for network designers, implementers and analysts. Enhancements of wireless technologies also accelerate the adoptions of enterprise wireless networks that are widely deployed solely or as an extension to existing wired networks. Bring Your Own Device is an example of the new challenging wireless trends. BYOD environments allow the use of personal mobile computing devices like smart phones, tablets, and laptops for business activities. BYOD has become popular in work places since they keep users in their comfort zone leading to higher productivity and cost reduction for businesses. Nevertheless, business data and services are consequentially subject to several wireless attacks, whether they are hosted on a cloud or on premises, especially when travelling through the open air. Corporates usually apply network-access-control systems for securing enterprise wireless LANs. However, the security systems may be compromised due to detected flaws posing the enterprise critical information to leakage or the entire network to interruption or complete failure. In this paper, we study the impact of wireless attacks on enterprise wireless LANs. The study helps in evaluating the real risks that threaten wireless technologies. In additions, recommended mitigations and practices to overcome the detected vulnerabilities and security flaws are proposed.