Rogue Access Point

What Does Rogue Access Point Mean?

A rogue access point (rogue AP) is any wireless access point that has been installed on a network’s wired infrastructure without the consent of the network’s administrator or owner, thereby providing unauthorized wireless access to the network’s wired infrastructure. Most of the time, rogue APs are set up by employees who want wireless access when none is available.

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Techopedia Explains Rogue Access Point

Another, and perhaps more common, example of a rogue access point is what is sometimes referred to as an “evil twin.” This, at no time, involves unauthorized Ethernet connections as in the example above. Rather, this involves a wireless device just outside of an organization that receives beacons transmitted by legitimate access points within the organization. The evil twin then begins to transmit identical beacons with the intent of having end users within the organization connect with it. Once connected, the evil twin can then be used by nefarious individuals as an avenue into the organization’s network.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…