NETWORK ACCESS SUMMARY This component allows the auditor to test the strength of defenses the host has in place to protect their local area network. This component consists of gaining access to the local area network through a wireless access point and unsecured physical channels (such as an ethernet jack). PURPOSE By walking organizations through the vulnerabilities of wireless networks, you have the opportunity to discuss password strength, and the power that having "offline" access to a password means in terms of brute forcing it, as well as the importance of defense in depth even within their trusted work network - reducing the services computers and servers are sharing, setting up local firewalls on computers, and requiring authentication to access files. Even a few minutes of network "sniffing" by an adversary can enable them to work offline to reveal the network password. Knowing this password would let someone then access the entire internal network, files shared internally, and even change network settings to enable remote access. While in an ideal setup, this would give no further access to sensitive documents, it is not uncommon to find shared file folders, or to gain access to the firewall or network routers (often set to the default password, because they're only accessible from inside the network...). THE FLOW OF INFORMATION Information Threats Actors Results Activity Threats Actors Capacity Capacity Activities Activities Vulnerabilities Vulnerabilities Barriers Barriers Assets Assets Information Flow GUIDING QUESTIONS Does the organization use strong encryption (WPA2) to secure its wifi? How secure is the password for the wifi network? How are guests provided Internet access? APPROACH Determine the security of the wireless access point (WAP). Gain client access to the WAP. Test unused ethernet ports for live network connectivity. Page 44 of 240