Fortinet APs Prevent Credential Theft on Wireless Networks

It’s the third coffee in, and I’m shaking my head how often Wi-Fi credentials gets stolen. It’s 2024, and the attackers are using the same ploys — evil twins, phishing portals and brute-force attacks — to capture credentials from badly secured networks. And yet businesses release unsecured access points (APs) or fall short with weak authentication.

As someone who has been working in networking since the early ’90s—when we were muxing for voice and data over P.S.T.N.—I’ve watched these threats change. I can remember when networks came crashing down in minutes thanks to the Slammer worm. Fast forward to today and credential theft still remains among the biggest problems in wireless security.

But you know the thing: Fortinet APs are pretty darn good at stopping these attacks before they get started. I have launched secure wireless for hundreds of companies — just last month I had my team at PJ Networks update three banks AP with Fortinet to a zero-trust wireless architecture. The result? Locked-down Wi-Fi, no easy points of entry for attackers, better visibility of potential threats.

Let’s break it down.

How Do Hackers Steal Wi-Fi Passwords?

You don’t need NSA-grade hacking toolsets to snatch Wi-Fi logins. In fact, they rely on surprisingly basic techniques — and businesses that don’t treat authentication seriously are basically rolling out the red carpet. Here are the (most common) methods:

• Evil Twin Attacks: An adversary creates a fake Wi-Fi network bearing the same SSID as the genuine network. So, there are users who connect thinking it is legit and put their credentials. Boom—stolen.
• Rogue APs: A hacker would place an unauthorized AP within your network to connect, hoping that your employees or guests connect to it without realizing. When they do, credentials (and data) are at risk.
• Deauthentication Attacks: The attacker disconnects devices, then tricks them into connecting to a rogue network to steal login credentials.
• Weak Pre-Shared Keys (PSK): If you’re using a simple WPA2 ‘passphrase’ with no added protection, attacking data can be brute-forced or cracked using a dictionary. (Seriously, stop doing this.)
• Phish After the Fact: Redirects users to fake log-in pages looking like normal access points. They type in their usernames and passwords — and the hacker gets it all.

And please — don’t even get me started on Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). If WPS is still enabled on your AP, disable it now. It’s just a brute-force attack, waiting to happen.

Security Authentication Features of Fortinet

This is the reason why authentication means everything. Passwords, by themselves, don’t do the trick — not on a secure network, anyway. These security features are unique to Fortinet APs:

1. Enterprise-Grade 802.1X Based Certification
   • Rather than weak pre-shared keys, Fortinet APs use 802.1X with RADIUS authentication. This means:
   • Authentication occurs for each user/device, individually.
   • You can’t just pass around the Wi-Fi password, because the credentials are linked to identity and aren’t just a static key.

   It’s giving everyone a personalized key to your building rather than using one generic lock for all your doors.

2. Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) WPA3

   One great improvement in WPA3, specifically in terms of Fortinet’s authentication methods. SAE also prevents offline brute-force attacks, so attackers can’t simply capture the handshake data and crack it later.

3. Rogue AP Detection & Prevention встроенный

   Fortinet’s wireless intrusion prevention system (WIPS) is a proactive solution that continually monitors for:

   • Rogue APs attempting to mimic your network
   • Rogue Access points — SSID — Unrelated SSIDs appearing
   • Clients with connections to questionable node networks

   When detected, Fortinet APs can automatically block rogue devices and notify administrators — removing the need for human intervention.

4. MFA Support for Captive Portals

   Even if a hacker turns his attention to Wi-Fi and intercepts a login attempt, he’d require a second authentication factor — push notification or one-time password (OTP) — to gain entry and execute his plans. This is how PJ Networks has been implementing it for its banking clients, and it has changed the game.

Best Practices for Securing Wi-Fi Login

If you do have Fortinet APs, you still need good authentication practices to secure yourself. Here are my non-negotiables:

• Remove weak pre-shared keys – use 802.1X authentication.
• If WPA2 is required, use it only on WPA3 enabled devices.
• Set up a RADIUS server — Centralized authentication = higher security.
• Utilize network segmentation — Isolate guest Wi-Fi from internal assets
• Set up recurring rogue AP monitoring – Never take your network for granted.
• Enable MFA on Wi-Fis – Passwords are not enough.
• Turn off WPS – if it’s enabled, it’s a security liability. Full stop.

Secure Wi-Fi Solutions by PJ Networks

We don’t just brag about securing wireless networks at PJ Networks, we secure them. We have also installed Fortinet based secure wireless in banks, corporate offices and even high security enclaves such as financial data centers.

Why Fortinet? Because it works.

• Stronger authentication that keeps the attackers out.
• Managed centrally using FortiGate, simplifying security visibility.
• AI-run threat detection (I get it, I don’t trust a lot of AI security tools, but Fortinet actually nails it here).
• Field-tested—We’ve deployed these solutions on active attack surface, and they work.

If you’re still using consumer-grade access points or weak passwords on your business Wi-Fi, you’ve got work to do before an attacker decides for you.

Conclusion

Hackers nab Wi-Fi credentials using the same tricks as before—and if your network still uses legacy authentication protocols, you’re making it easy for them.

Evil twins and deauth attacks are still going strong.

• FSCK that weak PSK is still cracked.
• Users still get tricked into logging to fake login portals.

This is not new, and yet too many organizations still keep their Wi-Fi open to credential theft.

But today’s security solutions—like Fortinet APs using 802.1X authentication and the rogue AP detection feature—can prevent these attacks before they occur.

Secured countless banks, corporate offices, financial institutions with Fortinet’s wireless security. If you care about keeping sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands, lock down your Wi-Fi the right way before it’s too late.

Wi-Fi Security Mistakes You Can’t Afford: Quick Take

• ❌ Passwords for Wi-Fi authentication.
• ❌ Trusting WPS — or weak WPA2-PSK keys.
• ❌ Ignoring rogue AP threats.
• ✅ Setting up 802.1X with RADIUS
• ✅ Upgrade to WPA3 & disable WPS.
• ✅ Using MFA for Wi-Fi logins.

Still using old Wi-Fi encryption? Fix it now.