2.3
- Attack against default accounts and credentials on APs
- When
a customer acquires an Access Point, the device usually has got
default credentials provided by the manufacturer. For instance, for
the Motorola AP used in this lab, the default username = admin,
and password = motorola, as anybody can learn at the device's
User Guide.
- It
is a very important measure of security to change the default
credentials of the AP, because the AP is the key element of a
wireless network to be protected. Malicious access to the AP could
result on the loss of the whole network.
- The
process of introducing new credentials should be always done via
Ethernet or wired connection, because otherwise a potential attacker
could sniff and capture those credentials from the air. Actually, the
User Guide provides guidelines for protecting the AP changing the
default credentials:
- Moreover,
in case of physical access to the AP, a malicious attacker could just
reboot manually the device, resetting all the possible configuration
introduced by the administrator. Then, default credentials would be
working again, and access to the AP open for anybody knowing that
information.
