The general nature of a local network leads to a specific set of attack vectors. For example, monitoring of the wireless network or injecting malicious or abusive traffic on the Wi-Fi or Local Area Network (LAN).

One vector is based on passive monitoring of traffic over the wireless network, without the attacker being connected. A wireless network can be passively monitored, because some of the headers of communication packets are not encrypted even in secured wireless networks. These headers can reveal information such as the MAC addresses of the devices on this network or the temporal properties of the traffic generated.

The Wi-Fi Alliance has regulated security and compliance tests as part of the standards. The CC33xx companion IC is tested with Wi-Fi Alliance testbeds, and complies with all these security requirements.

The second vector relates to attacks generated from another device that is part of the local area network (LAN). This provides additional opportunity for executing an attack vector that involves network access, and the ability to legitimately inject traffic over the network and abuse ports and protocols available on the target device.