McAfee Security Firm Warns: Wireless Networks Are Highly Vulnerable to Hacker Attacks, Even with Encryption Enabled
Foundstone, a subsidiary of McAfee, warns that tools for cracking WEP and WPA encryption are readily available on the Internet, making it easy for hackers to launch attacks on wireless networks. Notably, some versions of the Linux operating system have been pre-configured to carry out such attacks.
Attackers do not require extensive knowledge to break the encryption systems of wireless networks. This creates many potential vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit.
WEP encryption can be used by hackers to “listen in” on the information packets exchanged between systems within the wireless network. Once a sufficient number of packets are collected, they can be employed to crack the encryption and steal the wireless network login credentials.
Meanwhile, WPA can be exploited to inject additional packets into the network traffic when a component system of the network attempts to log in—this is part of the handshake process that establishes the connection.
Foundstone emphasizes the importance of using a strong password to avoid detection and recommends changing the network key frequently. They report that 10% of users still rely on one of the 50 most common passwords.
Martin Pivetta, McAfee’s Director of Development Management, stated that the decision to disclose this security issue is aimed at raising security awareness among users.
Hoàng Dũng
