Wireless Wifi Network
2009
Wireless Wifi Network
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US $.40
Study Finds WiFi Networks Are Fully Open to Hackers
Do you believe most wireless networks are secure from hackers? If you do, the results of a recent ethical hacking experiment might change your mind . At home and at hotspots, it discovered that WiFi use can be perilous business.
Nearly 40,000 wireless networks run a great risk of being penetrated by hackers, according to the new study authorized by the British life assistance company CPP.
The company hired whitehat hacker and Senior Vice President of Cryptocard Jason Hart to visit around six British cities. Hart used basic wardriving hardware– a laptop and easily available software – to identify unprotected private wireless networks. What he discovered was shocking. Almost a quarter of the WiFi networks had no passwords at all, making them readily reachable to hackers.
Even password secured wireless connection with the old WEP encryption standard are not safe. They can be hacked in a matter of minutes. Despite that, 82% of Brits believe their WiFi networks are protected .
If infiltrated, the wireless connection could be utilized for everything from buying pornography to selling stolen goods and accessing victims' personal information to commit identity theft and credit fraud.
We contemplated whether home WiFi network protected is any better on this side of the pond. The answer wasn't reassuring . "CPP's road survey findings are consistent with what I've seen while performing informal scans across the U.S. over the years," states Lisa Phifer, president of Core Competence, a network security consulting organization. "Although the percentage of wireless networks using security has grown, the WiGLE.net wireless network database indicates that one third of them still don't use encryption." Phifer states 10% operate with default settings, which makes hijacking simplier.
The CPP study also revealed the dangers of using public wireless networks to go online . Whitehat hackers were able to "harvest" user names and passwords from unsuspicious WiFi users at cafes and restaurants at the rate of 350 an hour.
The investigation revealed that 200 people unknowingly signed on to counterfeit WiFi networks within an hour, risking the revelation of their personal financial details to hackers.
Phifer has found the same wireless security issues in the U.S. "When I've tested mobile WiFi access points in public places like cafes and conference centers, I often see users immediately trying to connect to my wireless network," she explains . According to Phifer, that's because WiFi enabled devices are far too friendly to strangers. "Many users have no idea what their laptops and smartphones are trying to connect to without any prompting or permission," she asserts.
How to Protect Yourself at Home and at Hotspots
- Have WPA instead of no encryption or WEP encryption. The old WEP (Wired Equivalency Privacy) encryption has weaknesses that make it an easy mark for hackers. WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access), or even better, WPA2 has stronger encryption.
- Alter the default wireless network name and administrative password. Network devices generally come with default names and passwords which are easy for hackers to find online.
- Make sure your firewall is turned on and your antivirus software is up to date . It can reduce the damage hackers can inflict if they attempt to access your network.
- Only allow authorized users to access your network. Limit access by filtering MAC (Media Access Control) addresses. This will discourage accidental connections from neighbors, but not real attacks by sophisticated hackers.
- Turn off WiFi connectivity when you're not using it.
- Turn off printer and file sharing options when you're at a hotspot .
- Stay away from logging into public hotspots that don't have protected login pages, (indicated by the padlock in your browser and "https" in the URL).
- Use a VPN (virtual private network) like Private WiFi to insure that your information is sent through an invisible secure tunnel.
If you've been hacked at home or at a hotspot, we'd like to hear your story. Tell us what happened to you.
About the Author
Jan Legnitto is an investigative journalist and documentary producer who writes about criminal justice and intelligence issues. Jan is also a frequent contributor to the Private I blogs. wireless security, identity theft
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