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Case Study Wireless Internet Access Provider Industry: Information Technology Location: UK The subject of this engagement is a wireless (WLAN 802.11b) Internet access point which is deployed at the clients' 'Hot Spot' locations. In the UK a number of 'Hot Spot' providers operate in a variety of locations including hotels, airports, conference centres and coffee shops. The objective is to provide high speed Internet access to people on the move via wireless technology. The challenge of the engagement was to gain free Internet access or to stop normal operation of the 'Hot Spot' hardware or software by compromising the 'Hot Spot'. Billing information handled by the 'Hot Spot' was also targeted, this information includes credit card information as this is how Internet access is paid for. An engagement model of a penetration project was selected to offer the client the maximum amount of benefit. The WLAN access point and connected hardware was thoroughly examined, no external weaknesses were found allowing compromise. The web application which provides a billing gateway and associated Internet access was also examined and no security issues were found. Apart from the apparently well guarded external face of the 'Hot Spot' a network configuration issue was found in 'Hot Spot' which allowed free Internet access (web access only) from the 'Hot Spot'. This issue of free Internet access translates into a direct financial loss. If the ability to gain free wireless Internet access from the 'Hot Spot' provider became common knowledge the financial losses could mount up quickly before all 'Hot Spot' locations could be modified. In the case that the free Internet access was used by a malicious attacker to attack another site no billing information would be held for the attacker as no payment was processed. This could hinder efforts to find the attacker and may present legal issues for the 'Hot Spot' provider. |
