Active Attacks

Wi-Fi privacy is immediately compromised from an “active attack”
whereby a hacker uses a program that “sniffs” the airwaves of a wireless
network to acquire confidential information such as:


User names

Passwords

Any personal data

In this type of attack, the hacker can use the information acquired to
pretend to log onto the network as an authorized user with the ability to
access any wired network resource on your intranet. Once the hacker
accesses your network, he can map out your entire internal infrastructure
using software that is freely available from a number of hacker
sites. This leaves your mission-critical information completely vulnerable
to theft, modification, or worse, being erased from your file servers.