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Friday, September 14, 2007

Beware Of "Evil Twin" WiFi Networks

Have you heard of “evil twin” WiFi networks? While this may be a silly name, it’s beginning to be a serious problem. Open wireless networks are rapidly becoming an important part of urban culture as modern digital nomads increasingly eschew offices in favor of coffee shops. With the rise in popularity of WiFi-enabled mobile computing devices and publicly accessible access points, a new kind of WiFi security threat is beginning to emerge. Security researchers are beginning to note increasing instances of so-called “evil twin” attacks, in which a malicious user sets up an open WiFi network and monitors traffic in order to intercept private data. These evil twin wifi networks are very easy to setup. Anyone who wants to intercept sensitive data needs only a bit of programming know-how, a laptop, and a USB wifi adapter that acts as an access point. These evil twin wifi networks are hard to trace, because the laptops can be shut off at any time. So how can you protect yourself? Be wary of free wireless hotspots. This is something that can potentially put anyone at risk, especially those of us with laptops or other wifi-capable devices. Check out the full article: Attack of the “evil twin” WiFi networks >>>www.free2surf.org

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