Rogue hotspots offer rich pickings for hackers
Criminals are setting up temporary wireless access points designed to look like the genuine article in order to capture confidential information, according to security firm RSA.
The company warned that rogue hotspots could provide the latest platform for identity theft, and cited a test system built by Capgemini UK as a proof-of-concept.
"Rogue hotspots currently constitute one of the most serious and most likely vehicles for wireless security breaches," said Phil Cracknell, director of Capgemini UK's security consulting practice. "They are easy to set up and an attacker is almost guaranteed a valuable crop of data in a short period of time."
Capgemini UK built a test system on a laptop that emulated a commonly seen hotspot, and watched people connecting to it presumably because they were unable to distinguish it from the real thing.L33tdawg: This is the FINAL CALL for anyone interested in registering for the War Driving Kuala Lumpur - Wireless Security Training that's happening on the 5th and 6th of June. There are only 3 seats left so register now!
