Wireless Network Security – Only with an S

Wireless Network Security – it’s a huge concern

I want to address important concerns about wireless network security, that a lot people don’t immediately understand about wireless:

  • if you configure your wireless network with “no security” or “open authentication only” running, you basically have no security at all
  • if you don’t configure PSK or 802.1X/EAP/RADIUS, you are basically sending all your traffic unencrypted
  • if you don’t run the 4-way handshake, you have no encryption

I usually demonstrate these issues on my CWSP, CEH, and wireless hacking/ pentesting classes. I emphasize and demonstrate that anything you transmit, which is not encrypted, is completely visible to anyone. A hacker can capture it, and see it, without any effort.

Usually capturing traffic, and showing students how easy it is to get the HTTP/FTP username and password, is enough to make the students sit upright. However, when I then view an entire Telnet session, or replay an audio call, everyone’s attention is guaranteed.

There is no magic involved. If data is sent, unencrypted, over the wireless airwaves, anyone can hear it. So, if you are at a coffee shop, at a stadium or airport, or on a guest network, with no PSK or 802.1X/EAP/RADIUS, you have a problem.

We need to fix this, you need to be enjoying your coffee at the coffee shop, or watching the game at a sports bar, without worrying about who is spying on you.

Only with an ‘S’ – how to overcome free wireless network security issues (and thus enjoy that coffee)

Well there is a solution to this problem, of course, “Only with an S”

What I mean is, on an open network, you only EVER use protocols with an ‘S’ in them:

Wireless Network security - A screenshot of a text that says do n't use http instead use https

There are, of course, exceptions to the rule, don’t be fooled by SMTP, instead use SMTP with TLS (watch out here – SMTP by default without TLS, is *open*).

I have an additional rule, referring to SNMP, to add here: if the thing in question has a number available, use the biggest number. So, use SNMPv3, not SNMPv1, or SNMPv2.

Of course, the ultimate security precaution is to always use VPNs. (The ultimate solution to the free wireless security problem, and it has an ‘S’!) If you always use a VPN whenever you are on a public network, even when you are on a network outside the office, all your traffic will be encrypted as it crosses from your device to the other end of the VPN tunnel.

Watch out here, some configurations allow you to use split-tunneling which allows you to configure some traffic to go down the VPN path, but other traffic (usually email or web traffic) to jump off and be sent out locally – this, of course, may be convenient but can defeat the safety of a VPN. If you are using this feature, make sure you are using secure protocols, for the locally “split” traffic.

That’s it. Happy New Year to everyone, and we’ll see you next time!

So here is my wireless network security summary:

  1. Only use protocols with an ‘S’
  2. If they have an ‘S’ and have a TLS option, turn it on
  3. If they have a number, use the biggest one
  4. Use a VPN when you’re out of the office

Safe web browsing and, remember, enjoy that coffee!

 

If you are looking to make your mark in the IT Industry, then NC-Expert offers excellent training courses aimed at relevant IT industry certifications – contact us today to get started.

NC-Expert Blog

Wi-Fi Myth Series - Myth #13: Mesh is ALWAYS The Best Solution

By Rie Morgan • September 10, 2026
Mesh Wi-Fi has developed quite the reputation: Need coverage in the far end of the building? Mesh. Can’t get Ethernet to an access point? Mesh. Dead spot upstairs? Mesh. Need Wi-Fi in the warehouse, courtyard, annex, garage, loading dock, or that mysterious conference room where RF signals apparently go to die? Mesh. And there’s a reason for the enthusiasm. Mesh networking can be extremely useful: it can extend connectivity into places where running cable is difficult, expensive, disruptive, or simply impossible. Modern mesh systems can dynamically select paths, recover from connectivity changes, and provide remarkably capable wireless backhaul... but that doesn’t mean mesh is automatically the best architecture. Sometimes the best mesh network is the one you don’t build!

Wi-Fi Myth Series - Myth #12: Auto Channel Selection ALWAYS Knows Best

By Rie Morgan • August 28, 2026
Automatic Channel Selection sounds like one of those features we should simply be able to trust: the APs monitor the RF environment, the Controller gathers data, an Algorithm considers interference, utilization, neighboring APs, channel availability, and other metrics, then Radio Resource Management (RRM) does its “thing” and selects the best channels. Wonderful! One less problem for the wireless engineer to worry about... except RF rarely cooperates with anything quite that neatly! Modern RRM systems are remarkably capable, and automatic channel selection can dramatically simplify the management of large wireless environments, but an algorithm can only make decisions based on the information it collects, the parameters it has been given, and the objectives it has been designed to optimize. That makes automation a powerful engineering tool. It does not make it the engineer.

Wi-Fi Myth Series - Myth #11: Interference Is Always Someone Else’s Wi-Fi

By Rie Morgan • August 20, 2026
When Wi-Fi performance suddenly deteriorates, interference is often the first culprit to be suspected and, when this (interference) enters the conversation, attention tends to turn immediately toward neighboring Wi-Fi networks. “Someone must have installed another AP.” “The office next door is probably using our channel.” “There are too many SSIDs around here.” Sometimes, this diagnosis is exactly right, but RF interference has a much larger cast of characters than just neighboring APs. In fact, some of the most frustrating wireless problems occur when the interfering device isn’t speaking 802.11 at all! The spectrum doesn’t particularly care whether the energy occupying it came from an enterprise AP, a Bluetooth headset, a microwave oven, or something considerably stranger. To a Wi-Fi radio trying to communicate, unwanted RF energy is simply unwanted RF energy. Wi-Fi Has to Share the Neighborhood The 2.4 GHz band has always been something of an RF “community center”. Wi-Fi operates alongside Bluetooth, Zigbee and other technologies, while various consumer, industrial, medical, and electronic devices may also generate energy within or around the same spectrum. Microwave ovens are perhaps the most famous example. Their emissions can interfere with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, particularly when clients are operating nearby. Bluetooth devices, cordless equipment, wireless cameras, sensors, and other transmitters can also contribute RF energy. Some interferers transmit continuously. Others appear periodically. Some hop frequencies. Others produce wideband noise. That last category can be particularly entertaining to troubleshoot... in the very specific sense of “entertaining” that wireless engineers use when they have been staring at spectrum analysis for three hours! The important point is that interference doesn’t need to understand Wi-Fi to disrupt it.