Introduction to research 802.11
Since its emergence, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) has become one of the most popular and convenient choices of data communication in today’s world. Consequently many protocols governing wireless communications have been developed, and each is unique in how it defines the regulation of data transmission. The most common wireless protocol is research 802.11which is certified by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (research). This is a subcategory of the research 802 standard, which more generally refers to all local area networks (LANs). Specifically, research 802.11 is a set of rules governing devices which operate within the 2.4 GHz radio spectrum, which is part of the Industrial, Science, and Medical (ISM) frequency band. This frequency range is an unregulated band and thus can be used freely, without licensed approval, by anyone with proper equipment.
The research 802.11 standard is broken down further into a set of sub-standards, whose variations will be discussed below. Currently the main sub-standards in the protocol are research 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g. The first one operates at 5 GHz and is the fastest at 54 Mbps. The second one, a revision of the original protocol and by far the most popular sub-standard, operates in the 2.4 GHz band at a maximum speed of 11 Mbps. Finally, the last one provides 20+ Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band. Several research groups are currently attempting to create improved sub-standards of the research 802.11 protocol that address various concerns raised within the current sub-standards. Security issues are presently the biggest of these worries.
In order to understand underlying security matters the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model, which consists of seven different layers, must first be discussed. An illustration of this model is shown below in Figure 1 [2]. When transmission is commenced, data starts at the top of the OSI model at the application layer and is handed off to each successive level until finally it reaches the physical level. Once the data is received, it begins traveling back up the layer structure until it ultimately reaches the application layer on the receiving end. Naturally, the physical layer in the model represents the actual wires that are used to connect devices in a conventional network. In order to capture information from this network, a hacker would have to tap into the physical confines of the wire and then work his way up to any level of the chart he wants in order to achieve data interception.