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The ‘Free Wi-Fi’ From Hackers Are Hitting Airports

A new hot-spot scam is hitting airports by offering 'free Wi-Fi' connection, says a warning.

As more and more travelers at the airport carry laptop computers, which they use for surfing the Net during flight intervals, it is possible that some people are watching them though not at the airport. These trespassers hide behind the Internet from where they trap unsuspecting people into various kinds of frauds.

When consumers look for Internet connections at large airports and find one that simply names "Free Wi-Fi", they could be mistaken to think it an offer from the establishment.

For, when they log on they might actually be on an ad-hoc network or on a peer-to-peer network. As the user surfs the Net, he may be totally unaware that he is performing the act through a hacker's PC, as reported by Idahostatesman in news on July 11, 2007.

As long as the surfing goes, the hacker intercepts passwords, credit card, bank account and Social Security numbers and such confidential information. In addition, if the user sets his computer to share files, the hacker by simply sneaking into the keystrokes that the user applies to enter data, could steal the entire document or file from that PC.

Any user who connects to one such network is at peril. There is also no way to track how an attack strikes the user simply because the victim thinks he is at a normal hot-spot connection. The malicious connection could also pose risk for enterprises if a person uses a corporate laptop on such a connection. He carries the infection from the network and when he plugs the laptop to the company network, the infection also spreads there with it, explained Corey O'Donnell, vice presidnet of marketing at Authentium, and Computerworld published this in news.

Airports still report about security issues of Wi-Fi connections. Authorities in Atlanta, New York LaGuardia, and Los Angeles airports have been informing about the presence of ad-hoc networks under the advertisement banner - 'free Wi-Fi connections'.

A certain investigation showed that 20 ad-hoc networks in Chicago's O'Hare Airport were set up with the objective of hacking into others' computers.

Related article: THE SPAM MAFIA

» SPAMfighter News - 7/20/2007

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