Patent ID: 7536723

Claim:
A method for monitoring for unauthorized wireless access to computer networks, the method comprising: receiving a list of one or more wireless access point devices which are allowed to be connected to a computer network within a selected geographic region, the computer network being at least a portion of a local area computer network to be protected from one or more wireless intrusions; positioning one or more sniffer devices within the selected geographic region; monitoring wireless communications within the selected geographic region using at least one of the one or more sniffer devices; detecting an active wireless access point device from the monitored wireless communications, the active wireless access point device being configured to perform a network address translation function between its wired and wireless interfaces, the active wireless access point device being not among the one or more wireless access point devices which are allowed to be connected to the computer network; transmitting a marker packet over a wireless link to the active wireless access point device using at least one of the one or more sniffer devices, the marker packet being adapted to be transferred through the active wireless access point device to an authorized computing device connected to the computer network, the transmitting being at least for determining whether the active wireless access point device is connected to the computer network, the marker packet including a format information identifiable by the authorized computing device; identifying the format information in a packet received at the authorized computing device to infer that the received packet is the marker packet; and determining that the active wireless access point device provides unauthorized wireless access to the computer network based at least upon the inferring that the marker packet is received at the authorized computing device connected to the computer network.