Catching wireless hackers in the act

Source: Xatrix.org

It's been a cinch for vandals with an eye on Internet mischief to launch attacks by co-opting an unsecured wireless network, but such break-ins may not go so unnoticed now.
A heavily monitored wireless network was quietly set up this summer to lure hackers and keep track of attacks. Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) created the network to study the methods of wireless vandals. It is the first wireless version of a so-called honeynet, networks of servers designed to lure in hackers and then monitor their actions.

"It is important to see how the bad guys are breaking into systems using not just wired networks, but wireless networks as well," said Lance Spitzner, founder of the Honeynet Project, the group that first created honeynets.

Wireless networks have gained phenomenal popularity for their ability to let people connect to the Internet from anywhere close to an access point. However, the technology's security has been widely criticized, with the U.S. cybersecurity czar calling it one of the five reasons the nation's infrastructure is insecure.

While the SAIC, a research and engineering company, has tried to keep its 10-week old project hush-hush, details have leaked out.