An augmented penetration testing framework for Mobile Devices on 802.11 ac Wireless Networks

Abstract

In combination with the rapid growth of mobile device ownership worldwide and some reported high profile cybersecurity issues, rigorous security testing techniques are required to ensure that sensitive corporate and domestic end-user data is kept safe. The current wireless communication standard (801.11ac) forms the basis of the penetration testing framework for mobile devices on wireless networks presented here. Given a lack of a comprehensive mobile penetration testing framework, an augmentation of existing approaches is suggested. A series of progressive open source tools are used to analyze and exploit various weaknesses on mobile devices with a view to validating the efficacy of the framework. Advantages of this framework include the rapid identification and implementation the most appropriate solutions with a limited time scale and a significant contribution to the professional pentesters toolkit. Overall, this study shows that holistic, systems systems-oriented thinking is needed to more fully engage with the security issues surrounding mobile device security.