Attacks against authentication

In this chapter we are going to explore another form of attack: attacks against authentication mechanisms and the components surrounding the system. Attacking an authentication mechanism on a wireless network can give attackers the ability to access parts of the system and the resources hosted on it with very little or no resistance whatsoever. In fact, the very reason for having an authentication mechanism is to be able to validate the identity of a user or host, and if this is subverted or circumvented in some way, then we end up with a situation where all sorts of access and actions can be carried out. However, before we get into this chapter, let's take a look at what authentication is, what it is designed to accomplish, and how it can work in a very abstract form, and then we can use this knowledge to understand the attacks in this chapter...