Hackers love Wi-Fi hotspots

Posted in Air Travel News, Airport Lounges by Hank on the June 23rd, 2009

Wi-Fi hotspots are becoming increasingly available in places like train stations and airport lounges. While they provide a very convenient means of checking email or even just doing a bit of surfing before a trip, a leading white hat hacker believes these hotspots are one of the easiest attack points for hackers who are up to no good.

In a recent speech, Chris Gatford, director of white hat hacking group HackLabs, said that most hackers “do their best research when they are bored in airport lounges on their way to a conference.” He went on to say that the reason for this is the lack of any encryption on data traffic in public places, due to the difficulty in providing such encryption for temporary customers.

Gatford recommends using a VPN (virtual private network) when connecting to the web from a public place. If a VPN is not available, he states that using the TOR anonymous network will help to eliminate some, but not all of the risk. Regardless of how you connect, you should always disable your Wi-Fi connection when it is not in use.

Leave a Reply