Researchers Target Wireless Users With Viral Adware
Researchers from the University of Calgary, in Alberta, Canada, have developed proof-of-concept implementations of a scheme that exploits unencrypted wireless connections to blast PCs with ads.
In a paper on 9 March, the researchers described how the adware—dubbed Typhoid—convinces laptops to communicate with it as opposed to a legitimate access point. Next, the adware inserts its advertisements in videos and Web pages on other computers.
The computers it targets do not see the adware, because it is not installed on their machines. Likewise, the user whose computer is infected with the adware does not see any ads, so the user may not know the machine has been compromised. The researchers named the threat after Typhoid Mary, who unknowingly infected people with typhoid fever.
