[ISN] Wi-fi an easy target for terrorists?

[InfoSec News <alerts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.timesnow.tv/Wi-fi-an-easy-target-for-terrorists/articleshow/4326496.cms

5 Sep 2009

In a city like Bangalore, India's Silicon Valley, the Internet has 
become indispensable with millions of e-mails sent daily, electronic 
transactions made and data transferred. But how secure is the World Wide 
Web? A Bangalore Mirror and TIMES NOW team travelled from Koramangla in 
South Bangalore to 'Electronic City' and found over 40,000 unsecure 
Wi-Fi networks in the city.

Electronic City is considered a software hub, and as the world 
celebrates 40 years of the Internet, we found 40,000 unsecure Wi-Fi 
networks in the city with 600 alone in the 12-kilometre stretch the team 
covered.

The thousands of access points make for easy pickings for a terrorist 
with the right resources.

Armed with laptops and two powerful wireless antennae, the team began 
'War Driving' - the process of scanning for vulnerable wi-fi networks to 
crack into their domains. The process was somewhat tedious - beginning 
with a scan for unsecure wi-fi networks, then searching for open air 
networks, and finally a scan for networks with WEP or Wired Equivalent 
Privacy-enabled networks - considered the weakest.

Accompanying us were Members of the Indian Cyber Army, a group of 
anti-hackers.

Once a vulnerable wi-fi user was scanned thoroughly, his WEP key was 
cracked by the Wireless Penetration Testing system. Then we used the 
same WEP key to get to the access point of the network provider. After 
successfully acquiring the access point, we acquired an Internet 
Protocol from the same network which enabled us to access the internet. 
Finally, we sent mails from those hacked access points to the Karnataka 
police.

Here are the do's and don'ts to secure a wi-fi network.

1. You must use strong encryption keys and a user-based authentication.

2. Don't use a default password for your network.

3. Always disconnect your network when not in use.

These are simple steps that might prevent your internet network from 
becoming the gateway to cyber terror.


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