FW: Latest cybersecurity threat: WiFi virus

[William Fenn]

And we are concerned about NTP vulnerability.  What about that little WiFi
thingy you are using at home? 

 

N4TS

 

  _____  

From: Norm 
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 1:04 PM
To: Norm 
Subject: Latest cybersecurity threat: WiFi virus

 

http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20140226-latest-cybersecurity-thre
at-wifi-virus

 

 


Latest cybersecurity threat: WiFi virus


Published 26 February 2014

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Researchers have shown for the first time that WiFi networks can be infected
with a virus that can move through densely populated areas as efficiently as
the common cold spreads between humans. The team designed and simulated an
attack by a virus and found that not only could it spread quickly between
homes and businesses, but it was able to avoid detection and identify the
points at which WiFi access is least protected by encryption and passwords.

 

Researchers at the University of Liverpool <https://www.liv.ac.uk/>  have
shown for the first time that WiFi networks can be infected with a virus
that can move through densely populated areas as efficiently as the common
cold spreads between humans.

 

The team designed and simulated an attack by a virus, called Chameleon, and
found that not only could it spread quickly between homes and businesses,
but it was able to avoid detection and identify the points at which WiFi
access is least protected by encryption and passwords.

 

A University of Liverpool release reports
<http://news.liv.ac.uk/2014/02/25/wifi-virus-latest-threat-to-future-it-secu
rity/>  that researchers from the University's School of
<http://www.liv.ac.uk/electrical-engineering-electronics-and-computer-scienc
e/>   Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Computer Science simulated an
attack on Belfast and London in a laboratory setting, and found that
Chameleon behaved like an airborne virus, travelling across the WiFi network
via Access Points (APs) that connect households and businesses to WiFi
networks.

 

Areas which are more densely populated have more APs in closer proximity to
each other, which meant that the virus propagated more quickly, particularly
across networks connectable within a 10-50 meter radius.

 

Alan Marshall, Professor of Network Security at the University, said: "When
Chameleon attacked an AP it didn't affect how it worked, but was able to
collect and report the credentials of all other WiFi users who connected to
it. The virus then sought out other WiFi APs that it could connect to and
infect."

 

Chameleon was able to avoid detection as current virus detection systems
look for viruses that are present on the internet or computers, but
Chameleon is only ever present in the WiFi network. Whilst many APs are
sufficiently encrypted and password protected, the virus simply moved on to
find those which weren't strongly protected including open access WiFi
points common in locations such as coffee shops and airports.

 

Professor Marshall added: "WiFi connections are increasingly a target for
computer hackers because of well-documented security vulnerabilities, which
make it difficult to detect and defend against a virus.

 

"It was assumed, however, that it wasn't possible to develop a virus that
could attack WiFi networks but we demonstrated that this is possible and
that it can spread quickly. We are now able to use the data generated from
this study to develop a new technique to identify when an attack is likely."

 

- Read more in Jonny Milliken et al., "Detection and analysis of the
Chameleon WiFi access point virus,"
<http://jis.eurasipjournals.com/content/2013/1/2> EURASIP Journal on
Information Security 2 (17 October 2013) (doi:10.1186/1687-417X-2013-2)

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