The main discussion post provides strong evidence and arguments about the vulnerabilities of mobile devices due to wireless connectivity reliance, which is being manifested in a denial-of-service (DOS) attack. Since many technology users primarily rely on their smartphones as well as Wi-Fi for internet connection, the highlighted problem is both an urgent and important one. It is stated that “the growing volume of attacks on the Internet has increased the demand for more robust systems and sophisticated tools for vulnerability analysis, intrusion detection, forensic investigations, and possible responses” (Tchouchoua & Pin, 2018, p. 1). In other words, the development of appropriate responses and protective measures is ongoing, but there are two prospective ones.
Firstly, the four ways handshake used in Wi-Fi authentication has specific exploitable weak spots as well as vulnerabilities. It is reported that the key objective is “to minimize damages and prevent the attackers from exploiting weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the four ways handshake (WIFI)” (Tchouchoua & Pin, 2018, p. 1). Therefore, the protocol might require a revisal of the measures to increase the messages exchanged or introduce dual encryption parallel to the existing methods. Secondly, a mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) can be a solution as well, which is stated to be highly effective against DOS attacks, but weaker at identifying a malicious node (Paul et al., 2019). The key strength of MANET is that it is decentralized, and it can detect DOS attacks with greater precision. This leads to the proper establishment of resilient security mechanisms with minimal interruptions. Therefore, it is possible to mitigate the risks of even unsecured Wi-Fi networks by introducing these two measures alongside IT Security Awareness training.
References
Paul, S., Chitodiya, A., & Vishwakarma, D. (2019). Detection and prevention methodology for DoS attack in mobile ad-hoc networks. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, 6(5), 6313-6317. Web.
Tchouchoua, T. C. C., & Pin, Z. (2018). Solving downgrade and dos attack due to the four ways handshake vulnerabilities (WIFI). International Journal of Engineering and Management Research, 8(4), 1-10.