Wuxi MitraStar Technology Co. Ltd DSL100HNUT1V3 User Manual

Chapter 6    Wireless

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By their nature, radio communications are simple to intercept. For wireless data networks, this 

means that anyone within range of a wireless network without security can not only read the data 

passing over the airwaves, but also join the network. Once an unauthorized person has access to 

the network, he or she can steal information or introduce malware (malicious software) intended to 

compromise the network. For these reasons, a variety of security systems have been developed to 

ensure that only authorized people can use a wireless data network, or understand the data carried 

on it.

These security standards do two things. First, they authenticate. This means that only people 

presenting the right credentials (often a username and password, or a “key” phrase) can access the 

network. Second, they encrypt. This means that the information sent over the air is encoded. Only 

people with the code key can understand the information, and only people who have been 

authenticated are given the code key.

These security standards vary in effectiveness. Some can be broken, such as the old Wired 

Equivalent Protocol (WEP). Using WEP is better than using no security at all, but it will not keep a 

determined attacker out. Other security standards are secure in themselves but can be broken if a 

user does not use them properly. For example, the WPA2-PSK security standard is very secure if you 

use a long key which is difficult for an attacker’s software to guess - for example, a twenty-letter long 

string of apparently random numbers and letters - but it is not very secure if you use a short key 

which is very easy to guess - for example, a three-letter word from the dictionary.

Because of the damage that can be done by a malicious attacker, it’s not just people who have 

sensitive information on their network who should use security. Everybody who uses any wireless 

network should ensure that effective security is in place.

A good way to come up with effective security keys, passwords and so on is to use obscure 

information that you personally will easily remember, and to enter it in a way that appears random 

and does not include real words. For example, if your mother owns a 1970 Dodge Challenger and 

her favorite movie is Vanishing Point (which you know was made in 1971) you could use 

“70dodchal71vanpoi” as your security key.

The following sections introduce different types of wireless security you can set up in the wireless 

network.

Normally, the Device acts like a beacon and regularly broadcasts the SSID in the area. You can hide 

the SSID instead, in which case the Device does not broadcast the SSID. In addition, you should 

change the default SSID to something that is difficult to guess.

This type of security is fairly weak, however, because there are ways for unauthorized wireless 

devices to get the SSID. In addition, unauthorized wireless devices can still see the information that 

is sent in the wireless network.