Watch out for the Wi-Fi failings
Thieves are using wireless devices to impersonate wireless internet access points (known as Hot Spots) to steal personal information and credit card numbers.
Wireless Internet, known as Wi-Fi or WLAN, sends Web pages via radio waves. Hot spots are an area within the range of a Wi-Fi antenna (usually between 100 and 300 meters from it), where you can gain access to the world wide web. All one needs is a notebook or a palmtop equiped with an adequate card: no wires, no cables, no mobile phones. Though relatively new, this technology is rapidly developing. There are about 20,000 hot spots in the USA, up from 12,000 a year ago. Currently there are around 400 hot spots in Poland, mainly in hotels, some cafes, although the old town squares in Warsaw and Kraków also are areas where Wi-Fi access is available.
One might expect the thieves targeting these areas to be computer wizards, but the so-called evil-twin attacks don't require much technical expertise. To broadcast a radio signal that overpowers the hot spot all you need is a wireless laptop and software, which is widely available on the internet. Once they take over the hot spot the virtual thieves can view the activities of wireless users even within several hundred meters. It could be someone sitting next to you in the same café or the foyer of the hotel. It's hard to nab the perpetrator, and the victim might have no idea what happened.
Tomasz Kulisiewicz, an independent IT and telecom expert, said: "Because of the fact that WLAN uses radio signals, it is easier to break into. However, there are now security methods as reliable as SSL and many companies are using access codes, so we can say that WLAN are safe to use."
He adds that just like when accessing in a traditional route to the internet, one should not be careless and should not pass too much personal information over the net. It's not the security systems, but rather human carelessness that is responsible for many of the web thefts, both in traditional and wireless internet.
Wireless Internet, known as Wi-Fi or WLAN, sends Web pages via radio waves. Hot spots are an area within the range of a Wi-Fi antenna (usually between 100 and 300 meters from it), where you can gain access to the world wide web. All one needs is a notebook or a palmtop equiped with an adequate card: no wires, no cables, no mobile phones. Though relatively new, this technology is rapidly developing. There are about 20,000 hot spots in the USA, up from 12,000 a year ago. Currently there are around 400 hot spots in Poland, mainly in hotels, some cafes, although the old town squares in Warsaw and Kraków also are areas where Wi-Fi access is available.
One might expect the thieves targeting these areas to be computer wizards, but the so-called evil-twin attacks don't require much technical expertise. To broadcast a radio signal that overpowers the hot spot all you need is a wireless laptop and software, which is widely available on the internet. Once they take over the hot spot the virtual thieves can view the activities of wireless users even within several hundred meters. It could be someone sitting next to you in the same café or the foyer of the hotel. It's hard to nab the perpetrator, and the victim might have no idea what happened.
Tomasz Kulisiewicz, an independent IT and telecom expert, said: "Because of the fact that WLAN uses radio signals, it is easier to break into. However, there are now security methods as reliable as SSL and many companies are using access codes, so we can say that WLAN are safe to use."
He adds that just like when accessing in a traditional route to the internet, one should not be careless and should not pass too much personal information over the net. It's not the security systems, but rather human carelessness that is responsible for many of the web thefts, both in traditional and wireless internet.
