What Is Wireless Sniffer; What Is The Difference Between Open System And Shared Key Of Authentication Type; What Is 802.1X; What Is The Difference Between No Authentication Required, No Access Allowed And Authentication Required - ZyXEL Communications P-870HN-5xb Support Notes

P-870HN-5xb Support Notes

What is Wireless Sniffer?

An attacker can sniff and capture legitimate traffic. Many of the sniffer tools for
Ethernet are based on capturing the first part of the connection session, where the
data would typically include the username and password. An intruder can
masquerade as that user by using this captured information. An intruder who
monitors the wireless network can apply this same attack principle on the wireless.
What is the difference between Open System and Shared Key of Authentication
Type?
Open System:
The default authentication service that simply announces the desire to associate with
another station or access point. A station can authenticate with any other station or
access point using open system authentication if the receiving station designates
open system authentication.
Share Key:
The optional authentication that involves a more rigorous exchange of frames,
ensuring that the requesting station is authentic. For a station to use shared key
authentication, it must implement WEP.

What is 802.1x?

IEEE 802.1x Port-Based Network Access Control is an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers) standard, which specifies a standard mechanism for
authenticating, at the link layer (Layer 2), users' access to IEEE 802 networks such as
Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) and Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11). For IEEE 802.11 WLAN, IEEE
802.1x authentication can be based on username/password or digital certificate.
What is the difference between No authentication required, No access allowed and
Authentication required?
No authentication required—disables 802.1X and causes the port to transition to the
authorized state without any authentication exchange required. The port transmits
and receives normal traffic without 802.1X-based authentication of the client.
No access allowed—causes the port to remain in the unauthorized state, ignoring all
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