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wireless and security

Tags:
  • Wireless
  • Connection
  • Wireless Network
  • Security
  • Ethernet Card
Last response: in Wireless Networking
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March 8, 2014 1:27:56 AM

Hello all.

I'm looking for some guidance. I work for a rather large organization who insists on stating we cannot use wireless internet when working away from the office. They are happy for us to use an ethernet connection to any network but not wirelessly because, and I quote "we cannot ascertain the strength of the wireless box password" but this to me makes no sense. They allow you to access an unsecured wireless box via an ethernet cable but not access the same unsecured wireless box wirelessly. I cannot see how they makes any difference in terms of security. We also have VPN that we have to connect to before we can connect to the office network.

my questions are
is the connection via ethernet more secure than wireless if we are forced to use VPN?

Is there any merit in my organization's policy on not using wireless when they allow you to connect via ethernet?

Are there any books / resources I could reference when discussing with managers?
All the best

More about : wireless security

a b F Wireless
March 8, 2014 2:06:23 AM

If you're moving data over an unsecured WiFi network, anybody in range can see all the data you're doing (unless you're using SSL/TLS).

Ethernet would require them to actually plug into the network midway, and possibly replace an ethernet switch with one set up to mirror traffic.
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a c 146 F Wireless
a b 8 Security
March 8, 2014 4:03:16 AM

If you are running a VPN it should not matter what type of network you pass over. Some VPN though are more attackable than others. Something like l2tp with IPSEC is almost impossible to compromise. pptp is a really secure protocol and SSLVPN can be compromised with a man in the middle attack if the client does not validate certificates properly.

It just tends to be easier to attack a wireless connection so you have to be more sure your VPN is set up properly. A wired connection pretty much cuts the number of people who can try to hack the session. In most cases it would be someone at a ISP who would have to risk their job to try to take your data. With wireless it can be anyone close enough.

But you are likely correct if you run a properly installed VPN it does not really matter how you connect.
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a b F Wireless
March 8, 2014 4:30:04 PM

Oops, yeah. I missed the bit on the VPN. A well-set VPN should be uncrackable, the only thing they could tell is the amount of data you're moving.
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March 9, 2014 9:37:36 AM

michael12 said:
Hello all.

I'm looking for some guidance. I work for a rather large organization who insists on stating we cannot use wireless internet when working away from the office. They are happy for us to use an ethernet connection to any network but not wirelessly because, and I quote "we cannot ascertain the strength of the wireless box password" but this to me makes no sense. They allow you to access an unsecured wireless box via an ethernet cable but not access the same unsecured wireless box wirelessly. I cannot see how they makes any difference in terms of security. We also have VPN that we have to connect to before we can connect to the office network.

my questions are
is the connection via ethernet more secure than wireless if we are forced to use VPN?

Is there any merit in my organization's policy on not using wireless when they allow you to connect via ethernet?

Are there any books / resources I could reference when discussing with managers?
All the best


is the connection via ethernet more secure than wireless if we are forced to use VPN?
Not really because all connections will be tunneling through VPN

Is there any merit in my organization's policy on not using wireless when they allow you to connect via ethernet?
Yes, wireless signals can be intercepted.

Are there any books / resources I could reference when discussing with managers?
http://vpnverge.com/can-nsa-crack-vpn/
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a b F Wireless
March 9, 2014 5:50:47 PM

If you're forced to use VPNs, then there's no issue. Any traffic not going through the VPN or other encryption layers could be intercepted, though.
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!