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Layer 2 Liberation: Things Your AP Never Dreamed Of

Allan Riordan Ball

Allan Riordan Ball demonstrates bypassing SSIDs, handshakes, and IP stacks to sling raw 802.11 frames with Scapy as a peer-to-peer data transport pipe.

Summary

Bypassing Higher Network Layers

Allan Riordan Ball explores subverting the traditional Wi-Fi model by stripping away SSIDs, authentication handshakes, and IP routing to treat 802.11 strictly as a blank RF data pipe.

Crafting Raw 802.11 Frames with Scapy

Using Python and Scapy alongside standard USB Wi-Fi adapters in monitor and injection modes, Ball constructs custom management and action frames capable of arbitrary data payload delivery.

Practical Point-to-Point Wireless Hacks

The presentation demonstrates practical wireless hacks including ad-hoc file transfers, covert signaling, and beacon stuffing without requiring an intervening access point.

Detection and Defensive Implications

Because raw frame transmissions bypass typical firewalling and connection logging, detecting non-standard layer 2 traffic requires specialized RF monitoring and frame-level anomaly detection.

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