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reasonable and attainable choice. The market demand, the pay, and the career itself are all good. Best wishes to all who choose this career path — or endeavor to increase their networking knowledge by reading great books like this one.
    Devin K. Akin
    Chief Technology Officer, The Certified Wireless Network Professional (CWNP) Program http://www.cwnp.com
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    Introduction
    Welcome to Hacking Wireless Networks For Dummies. This book outlines plain-English, wireless-network hacker tricks and techniques you can use to ethically hack 802.11-based wireless networks (yours or someone else’s if you’ve been given permission) and discover security vulnerabilities. By turning the tables and using ethical hacking techniques, you then have a leg up on the malicious hackers — you’ll be aware of any vulnerabilities that exist and be able to plug the holes before the bad guys have a chance to exploit them.
    When we refer to ethical hacking, we mean the professional, aboveboard, and legal type of security testing that you — as an IT professional — can perform as part of your job. Villains need not apply.
    Wireless networks are popping up everywhere. They provide a lot of freedom but not without cost: All too many wireless networks are left wide open for attack. As with any other computer or network, you must be up on the latest security concepts to properly secure 802.11-based wireless networks. But locking them down involves more than just port-scanning testing and patching vulnerabilities. You must also have the right security tools, use the proper testing techniques, and possess a watchful eye. And know your enemy: It’s critical to think like a hacker to get a true sense of how secure your information really is.
    Ethical hacking is a means of using the bad-guy (black-hat) techniques for good-guy (white-hat) purposes. It’s testing your information systems with the goal of making them more secure — and keeping them that way. This type of security testing is sometimes called penetration testing, white-hat hacking, or vulnerability testing, but it goes further than that as you’ll see when we outline the methodology in this book.
    If you use the resources provided in this book, maintain a security-focused mindset, and dedicate some time for testing, we believe you’ll be well on your way to finding the weaknesses in your wireless systems and implementing countermeasures to keep the bad guys off your airwaves and out of your business.
    The ethical hacking tests and system-hardening tips outlined in this book can help you test and protect your wireless networks at places like warehouses, coffee shops, your office building, your customer sites, and even at your house.
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    Hacking Wireless Networks For Dummies
    Who Should Read This Book?
    If you want to find out how to maliciously break into wireless networks this book is not for you. In fact, we feel so strongly about this, we provide the following disclaimer.
    If you choose to use the information in this book to maliciously hack or break into wireless systems in an unauthorized fashion — you’re on your own. Neither Kevin nor Peter as the co-authors nor anyone else associated with this book shall be liable or responsible for any unethical or criminal choices you may make using the methodologies and tools we describe. This book and its contents are intended solely for IT professionals who wish to test the security of wireless networks in an authorized fashion.
    So, anyway, this book is for you if you’re a network administrator, information-security manager, security consultant, wireless-network installer, or anyone interested in finding out more about testing 802.11-based wireless networks in order to make them more secure — whether it’s your own wireless network or that of a client that you’ve been given permission to test.
    About This Book
    Hacking Wireless Networks For Dummies is