Critical Mass

802.11b has become extremely popular due to its low cost and ease of use. With the help of the Wi-Fi Alliance, interoperability issues were no longer a problem and consumers could confidently purchase products knowing they would not be locked into a proprietary single vendor solution. With this assurance, 802.11b has flourished. Millions of people have deployed Wi-Fi in their homes and businesses and most laptops now ship with Wi-Fi chipsets as a standard feature.

Wi-Fi ubiquity is both a blessing and a curse. Of course, Wi-Fi everywhere makes work easier and lets us enjoy all the benefits of wireless networking. However, this also means that as system administrators we must be extra vigilant in protecting our networks. For example, even if you don't have a wireless infrastructure in your environment, laptops which ship with Wi-Fi by default could actually associate with random networks as users walk through hotspots. This association has the potential to expose their laptop to wireless attacks.