Investigation of threats to the functioning of cyber-physical systems due to the use of vulnerabilities of the wireless standard IEEE 802.11

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to analyze and systematize the existing security threats to the functioning of cyber-physical systems through vulnerabilities of wireless networks operating on the basis of protocols defined by the IEEE 802.11 standard. The relevance of the study is explained by ever growing number of devices and various systems using wireless networks to ensure their functioning, including the designated standard. Using examples of existing varieties of this technology (there are more than 15 generations of the standard), the features of wireless local area connections according to this standard as well as the ways of organizing wireless communication lines (with one access point and (or) several, without an access point) are analyzed. Since the functioning of cyber-physical systems at the network level is based on this Wi-Fi technology, major attention is paid to the study of security threats of the IEEE 802.11 wireless standard,. Despite the benefits of using such means of communication, namely: high data transfer rates, high bandwidth, wide coverage area, reliability of the built network, ease of implementation and scalability, the implementation of security threats can lead to a violation of confidentiality and authenticity of the transmitted information, loss of control over the access point, the communication channel itself, the integrity of the transmitted data, etc. The existing security functions implemented in client devices operating on the basis of wireless connection of local area networks of the IEEE 802.11 standard are systematized in the paper as well.

Keywords

• wireless communication, wi-fi, vulnerability of wireless technologies, threats to information security, cyber-physical system.