Technology identifies invisible intruders on wireless LANs

Groundbreaking research undertaken by the Queensland University of Technology has led to the creation of systems that can detect invisible intruders on wireless local area networks.

QUT Information Security Institute co-researcher Dr Jason Smith said he and a colleague had invented an effective system to detect unwanted presence on wireless networks.

"Unlike a building, there are no clearly defined boundaries to wireless networks. The perimeter of a network is defined by the quality of the receiving antenna," Dr Smith said.

"Intruders can easily gain access to wireless networks by either eavesdropping on unencrypted networks or actively hijacking computer sessions when a legitimate user logged onto the network leaves the connection."