Wireless IDS Evaluation
Does your wireless IDS actually detect intrusions?
Testing of wireless intrusion detection systems to validate detection capabilities and alert effectiveness.
Overview
Wireless intrusion detection systems promise to identify attacks against your wireless infrastructure—rogue access points, evil twins, deauthentication attacks, and more. But detection capabilities vary, and many organizations discover their WIDS doesn't work when a real attack occurs. WIDS Evaluation tests your detection capabilities by executing real attacks and measuring what gets detected, what gets missed, and how quickly alerts arrive.
What We Test
Our wireless ids evaluation engagements cover these key areas:
Rogue access point detection and alerting
Evil twin and SSID impersonation detection
Deauthentication and disassociation attack detection
Probe request and reconnaissance detection
Alert accuracy and false positive rates
Response time from attack to alert
Our Approach
WIDS evaluation requires executing real attacks while monitoring detection systems. We coordinate with your security team to execute attacks, observe alerts, and measure detection gaps.
Baseline Assessment
Review WIDS configuration, enabled detection rules, and alert destinations. Understand what the system is configured to detect.
Rogue AP Testing
Deploy test access points in various configurations—on network, off network, broadcasting your SSIDs—and verify detection and alerting.
Attack Simulation
Execute common wireless attacks: deauthentication floods, evil twin deployment, probe response spoofing. Document which attacks trigger alerts.
Alert Analysis
Review generated alerts for accuracy, severity classification, and actionable information. Identify false positives that might cause alert fatigue.
Response Time Measurement
Measure time from attack initiation to alert generation. Slow detection may allow attacks to complete before response.
Coverage Gap Analysis
Identify attack types the WIDS doesn't detect, areas without sensor coverage, and attacks that evade detection rules.
Common Findings
These are issues we frequently discover during wireless ids evaluation engagements:
Rogue detection failures
WIDS fails to detect rogue access points, especially those not connected to the wired network or positioned just outside sensor range.
Attack detection gaps
Common attacks like deauthentication or evil twin not detected due to disabled rules, insufficient signatures, or detection threshold issues.
Alert fatigue
High false positive rates cause security teams to ignore alerts. When real attacks occur, they're buried in noise.
Slow detection
Attacks detected minutes or hours after they begin—too late for effective response. Real-time detection requires proper configuration.
Coverage gaps
WIDS sensors don't cover all areas—parking lots, conference rooms, or building edges where attacks might originate.
Common Questions
What WIDS solutions do you have experience with?
Cisco Wireless IPS, Aruba WIPS, AirMagnet, Meraki Air Marshal, and others. We adapt our testing methodology to your specific solution while maintaining comparable evaluation criteria.
Will the attacks cause disruption?
Some attacks like deauthentication can briefly affect users. We coordinate timing with your team and can limit attack intensity while still testing detection capabilities.
What if we don't have a dedicated WIDS?
Many wireless controllers include basic WIDS functionality. We can evaluate those built-in capabilities or recommend whether dedicated WIDS investment is warranted based on your risk profile.
How do we improve detection after the assessment?
We provide specific tuning recommendations—enabling rules, adjusting thresholds, adding sensors for coverage gaps. Many improvements require configuration changes rather than new technology.
Other Wireless Security Testing Options
WiFi Infrastructure Assessment
Comprehensive evaluation of your wireless network architecture, encryption, and access point configurations.
Rogue Access Point Detection
Identification of unauthorized wireless access points that could provide attacker entry points or data exfiltration channels.
Wireless Penetration Testing
Active exploitation of wireless vulnerabilities including WPA/WPA2/WPA3 attacks and client-side wireless attacks.
Guest Network Isolation
Verification that guest wireless networks are properly isolated from production environments and sensitive resources.
Ready to Strengthen Your Defenses?
Schedule a free consultation with our security experts to discuss your organization's needs.
Or call us directly at (445) 273-2873