A Passive Approach to Wireless NIC Identification

IEEE 802.11 wireless networks are plagued with problems of unauthorized access. Left undetected, unauthorized access is the precursor to additional mischief. Current approaches to detecting intruders are invasive or can be evaded by stealthy attackers. We propose the use of spectral analysis to identify a type of wireless network interface card. This mechanism can be applied to support the detection of unauthorized systems that use wireless network interface cards that are different from that of a legitimate system. The approach is passive and works in the presence of encrypted traffic.