While WiFi is a convenient way to connect devices to the internet. It is a technology that from it’s inception has been inherently insecure. So I was not surprised to read in an Ars Technica article. That something called AirSnitch is now able to break Wi-Fi encryption and allow an attacker to infiltrate any isolated wireless networks being broadcast from the same access point.
For example, most wireless access points will probably be broadcasting for more than one isolated wireless network. With perhaps one wireless network specifically for your personal computers, and a secondary wireless network that any guests can use should they visit your home.
However, if AirSnitch gains access to one of those isolated networks, with the Guest WiFi network being the obvious choice. From what I understand of the article. AirSnitch is able to bypass the encryption and security that isolates one network from the other. Which then allows it to either view or modify any data passing through the whole of the network, before any data can reach its intended recipient.
Can’t we all use VLANs?
The problem with AirSnitch, is that the exploits are happening at the foundational level of the network stack. Which consist of seven layers of protocols, that allow devices to communicate over a network. So this is a problem that is not easily fixed.
As I was reading the article, I thought the obvious fix would be to use Virtual LANs in order to setup multiple isolated wireless networks. However as I read further, the article made it clear that VLANs are not a full solution. If you would like to know more about setting up a VLAN please see “A beginners guide to setting up a Synology router | create multiple isolated WiFi networks“.
Virtual LAN or VLAN, is a Layer 2 data link technology, that is able to turn a single physical network switch into multiple networks that can be isolated from each other. However, as actually setting up a VLAN, does take a bit of networking knowledge. As you may have guessed a lot of consumer wireless routers, simply do not have any VLAN functionality.
So while I would recommend that if your router has the ability, you create and use multiple isolated wireless networks. With a wireless network for your home computers, one for your Internet of Things devices and a wireless network for any house guests. Apparently it turns out that VLANs may not be a practical barrier against all types of AirSnitch attacks, particularly if you make a mistake and have misconfigured your VLANs.
So what can we do?
Before we all start to panic. In order for AirSnitch to work, it has to have access to your wireless network. So while there is no fix for the moment. We can reduce the risk of AirSnitch by trying to prevent it from accessing our home networks in the first place.
Which means that other than setting up VLANs on your router, and only enabling guest wifi if you absolutely need to use it. We should also be looking at bolstering wireless network security by using longer and more complicated wireless access passwords.
New Website layout and design
While WordPress is one of the most widely used Content Management Systems (CMS), and accounts for over 60 percent of the internets CMS based websites. Just trying to run and maintain one, can be time consuming and expensive. Particularly if you are relying on plug-ins in order to customise or add functionality to your website.
Even for a relatively simple site, like the mydoodads website. We currently use 30 plug-ins that manage everything from security to page layouts. So while plug-ins give us incredible flexibility without the need to be an expert coder. Plug-ins also open the door to vulnerabilities, that could make a site susceptible to hackers.
This means that in order to try and protect visitors, and our website. We need to make a concerted effort to keep all plug-ins up to date. However when a plug-in that was integral to the functioning of our WordPress theme, was no longer being supported by its developers. We found ourselves having to pivot to a new plug-in that would allow us to group pieces of content together.
So you may have noticed that we have made a number of changes to the website which we hope will make it more visually interesting. However, as we now have more flexibility with design and layout. We will continue to tweak elements in the background, particularly if we get feed back from visitors.
Content being posted in March
After a long break, finally we will be back to posting on a regular basis. Which means we will be returning to our weekly Thursday posting schedule. So we will be starting the month by posting a new Microsoft Word video. Where we look at enabling the ruler and formatting marks. Something that while disabled by default, we rely on when troubleshooting or formatting documents.
For our “Whats in my Tech Toolkit” series, we are going to take a look at a number of prying and opening tools, that we like to use. However unlike other tools in our toolkit, this set was collected over time through scavenging.
A few months back, we posted an Excel video on the function CONCATENATE. Which generated some interest in that it was suggested we would be better off using the TEXTJOIN function instead. So this month we will be looking at TEXTJOIN, and demonstrating why it is better to use than CONCATENATE.
Finally at the end of the month, we will be releasing our latest Synology BeeStation video. Which will look at BeePhotos and the BeePhotos app. Something that more than likely was the main reason, why you bought a BeeStation in the first place.
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