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Wi-Fi Hackers Maliciously Use Wireless Hotspots

While massive adoption of wireless hotspots in LA and many other communities eases and speeds up communication, the technology does some harm as well. The unwary Internet users stumble onto hackers' unrecognizable tricks exposing their laptops as well as personal information to them who effortlessly compromise and access everything, say advanced security experts and authorities.

This type of invasion has a new twist. Those who believe they are logging online through a Wi-Fi hotspot might really be hooking to a similarly looking network that a miscreant created to access their private data, Geoff Bickers, FBI's LA cyber squad's special agent said this in a statement that Latimes published on March 16, 2007.

According to wireless security experts, one should use a Wi-Fi network only to do some light surfing like checking the latest weather condition or the horoscope, certainly not for e-mailing or filing taxes or banking online. In this connection Errata Maynor's CEO Robert Graham said in a statement that Darkreading published on March 14, 2007 that there is no need for everyone to work from a coffee shop.

Hackers use keylogger trojans to intercept login and passwords or gather information about the identity of the victim to access into his corporate applications.

There have been two new attacks called "evil twin" and "man in the middle" where hackers set Wi-Fi access points and title it anything such as "Free Airport Wireless" or give it a reputed commercial name. The number of Wi-Fi victims has not yet been determined.

In the last two years Wi-Fi hacking techniques had become very common and were often unspotted, Bickers added. Wireless does not provide the necessary security yet people use it for its convenience.

Within corporate walls there are firewalls in the office that protect computers and their networks. But outside the workplace there is no firewall, which means a user works on an unprotected computer. Such a situation is easy for a hacker to "get a toehold in a network", Bickers said.

The Wi-Fi threat is particularly dangerous at cafes, airports and hotels and other busy areas where laptop users turn out heavily, according to authorities.

Related article: WoW โ€“ A Current Popular Target for Identity Thieves

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