To be honest, wireless security hasn’t changed too much in the last few years. That’s not to say it’s perfectly secure. There are still plenty of folks using legacy WEP encryption standards, and organizations that use WPA2-PSK with a horrible password. There are also many wireless networks that don’t segment clients, so attackers can sniff plenty of private connections by hanging out on public hotspots. Furthermore, many SMB organizations haven’t solved the problem of rogue hotspots or evil twin hotspots. That said, there hasn’t been a huge, industry-wide wireless standard vulnerability in quite awhile.
Prediction video link: https://youtu.be/A4m6D6fqmWA
While we don’t know exactly what it’ll be, we suspect the next big wireless vulnerability will have to do with an “ease-of-use” feature. The Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) standard was a great example of this possibility. WPS was designed to make it easier for new users to join a secure wireless network without having to remember a complex password. Unfortunately, it suffered from a flaw that made it easy for attackers to brute-force a WPS pin and gain access to the wireless network quickly. Unfortunately, usability features can sometimes clash with real security.
Recently, Windows included a new wireless feature called Sense. This feature is intended to allow you to automatically connect to secure wireless networks that your friends or acquaintances have used. While no one has found any issue with this feature yet, this is the type of feature that may introduce new wireless problems. In 2016, expect the next wireless security vulnerability to involve an ease of use feature like Sense.
Visit our WatchGuard security predictions site
— Corey Nachreiner, CISSP (@SecAdept)
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