Publication: Travel Tips
Wireless airport pirates. | |
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COOL TRAVEL MAIL'S
TRAVEL TIPS
Tips & Adice for the Seasoned and Armchair Traveler Alike!
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http://www.CoolTravelMail.com
July 3, 2007
Here's me during a typical airport layover:
First, buy a coffee. Extra large. Black.
Second, find a quit place and snap open my laptop. Look for
an available wireless connection. The word "free" usually
grabs my attention.
Third, share my personal, professional and financial secrets
with an unscrupulous computer hacker.
This week's edition includes:
* AIRPORT COMPUTER PIRATES
* AVOIDING THE WIRELESS BUG ZAPPER
* LOCKING YOUR LAPTOP'S BACK DOOR
P.S. If you're interested you can now post comments on this
and recent issues on our forum at... Travel Tips Forum
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AIRPORT COMPUTER PIRATES
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Actually, I have no idea if anyone has ever quietly rummaged
through my computer files while I was Internet surfing at an
airport. Given my routine - which I changed after reading an
article in Computerworld earlier this year - it's likely.
Roughly 14.3 million American households currently use
wireless Internet access. In response, many airports and
other public spaces offer now free wireless, or Wi-Fi,
connections for the public to log onto from their laptop
computers.
And, as usual, the hackers aren't far behind. Many are
increasingly taking advantage of this convenience and
setting up fake Wi-Fi connections designed to steal your
personal information and files without you even knowing
Airports across the nation are reporting Wi-Fi security
issues. Airport officials in Atlanta, New York LaGuardia,
Los Angeles and West Palm Beach, Fla., have all reported the
existence of networks advertised as free Wi-Fi connections
that really direct users to an another individual's
computer, according to Security company Authentium Inc.
An Authentium survey recently revealed that Chicago O'Hare
had 20 ad-hoc networks potentially designed to hack into
unsuspecting user's computers and networks. More than 80
percent of them advertised "Free WiFi".
That phrase acts like the light from a bug zapper, luring
unsuspecting users in to a bad guy's network. It's likely
I've been one of them.
When searching for connections, airport travelers may see
that more than one network connection available. If one of
them is labeled something like "Free Wi-Fi," they may be
likely to log on, thinking it's the free connection offered
by the establishment.
What they don't know is that the network may actually be an
"ad-hoc" network, or a computer-to-computer, connection.
The user is able to surf the Internet, but they're doing it
through the hacker's computer. The whole time they're doing
that, the hacker could be stealing information like
passwords, user names, or credit card, bank account and
social security numbers. You could have your identity
stolen, or end up with a spyware-infested PC that spits out
reams of e-mail spam using your Internet address.
If your PC is set to share files, a hacker could even steal
whole documents from the computer.
The worst part is, it's practically invisible. You can't
actually see any of this happening.
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AVOIDING THE WIRELESS BUG ZAPPER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, what can you do to keep hackers from pawing through your
computer files like a ship of Viking raiders ransacking a
village? Here are some tips gathered from Computerworld and
other sources:
* Never connect to an unfamiliar ad-hoc network — even if
the name sounds genuine. A hacker can change the name of his
network to anything he wants, including the name of the
legitimate Internet connection offered by the airport. Just
because it has the same name as the Wi-Fi advertised in the
airport, don't believe it.
A good rule of thumb, even when you're not in an airport, is
never connect to an ad hoc network unless someone you know
has set one up and specifically asks you to. And no, the
Nigerian oil executive who's been e-mailing you about
business opportunities doesn't count.
* Verify the authenticity of a WiFi provider.
Sites that are legitimately authorized to facilitate online
transactions typically have URLs that begin with the letters
"https" rather than "http". They also typically feature a
padlock icon in the browser window. These features are
specifically embedded in programs like Firefox and Internet
Explorer and are extremely difficult for evil twin attackers
to manipulate. Bogus versions of these secured sites are
extremely unlikely to display these features.
In Windows XP, in order to connect to a wireless network,
you click the wireless network icon in the system tray, and
the "Choose a wireless network" connection screen appears.
You'll see a list of all nearby wireless networks.
Each network includes a name and a description. If it's an
ad hoc network, it will be described as "computer-to-
computer" network. Normal wireless networks are simply
called … big surprise here, "wireless network".
* Avoid Vista. If you're a Windows Vista user, you're
especially susceptible to this attack because of the
difficulty in identifying it when using this system.
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LOCKING YOUR LAPTOP'S BACK DOOR
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* Make sure that your computer is not set up to
automatically connect to non-preferred networks. Otherwise,
your computer could automatically connect to the hacker's
network without your knowledge.
Here's how, according to Data Doctors Computer Services
(http://www.datadoctors.com). Click on your wireless icon
(bottom right corner next to the clock), then on the "View
Wireless Networks" button, and then on "Change advanced
settings". Click on the Wireless Networks tab at the top and
then on the "Advanced" button towards the bottom.
Select the "Access points or infrastructure networks only"
option and make sure that the "Automatically connect to non
-preferred networks" option is turned off so this scam will
no longer appear on your screen when you travel.
* Turn off file sharing when you're on the road to prevent
hackers from stealing entire documents, files and
unencrypted e-mail from your computer.
* Create a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for your business.
A VPN establishes a private network across the public
network by creating a tunnel between the two endpoints so
that nobody in between can intercept the data.
Many companies allow remote users to connect to corporate
networks as long as they use VPN. This keeps the users'
communications just as secure as if they were sitting at a
desk in the building.
Well, that's it for this week, group. Thanks again for
reading, and please keep those comments, complaints and
questions coming in.
You can send me an e-mail message at: Email Pierce
Until next week, thanks for reading.
Your Tipmeister,
Pierce
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