Eskenzi PR ad banner Eskenzi PR ad banner
  • About Us
Wednesday, 1 February, 2023
IT Security Guru
Eskenzi PR banner
  • Home
  • Features
  • Insight
  • Events
    • Most Inspiring Women in Cyber 2022
  • Topics
    • Cloud Security
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber Warfare
    • Data Protection
    • DDoS
    • Hacking
    • Malware, Phishing and Ransomware
    • Mobile Security
    • Network Security
    • Regulation
    • Skills Gap
    • The Internet of Things
    • Threat Detection
    • AI and Machine Learning
    • Industrial Internet of Things
  • Multimedia
  • Product Reviews
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Features
  • Insight
  • Events
    • Most Inspiring Women in Cyber 2022
  • Topics
    • Cloud Security
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber Warfare
    • Data Protection
    • DDoS
    • Hacking
    • Malware, Phishing and Ransomware
    • Mobile Security
    • Network Security
    • Regulation
    • Skills Gap
    • The Internet of Things
    • Threat Detection
    • AI and Machine Learning
    • Industrial Internet of Things
  • Multimedia
  • Product Reviews
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
IT Security Guru
No Result
View All Result

Warbiking exercise reveals Wifi security failures

by The Gurus
May 1, 2014
in Editor's News
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Wireless security is at a critical stage, and research has found that of 81,743networks surveyed, around 30 per cent were using either the known-broken Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) algorithm, or no security encryption at all.

In an exercise, James Lyne, global head of security research at Sophos, used wifi scanners on a bicycle in an project named “warbiking” and found that 52 per cent of networks were using WiFi Protected Access (WPA). “Our experiment found a disturbingly large number of people willing to connect to an open wireless network we created, without any idea of who owned it or whether it was trustworthy” said Lyne.

Lyne told IT Security Guru that he had found “thousands of broken networks” on his adventures and wireless security control was “all a mess and we have lost control”.
 
He said: “If you compare the United States and London, in the past 19 months the number of WEP-enabled routers has halved, but this is something we have known about for ten years and there were over 5,000 using this algorithm in London.
 
“San Francisco was worse, and there was more legacy technology there than in London. We have open networks by design but some are open and not encrypted. Unless we encrypt it, anyone with a wireless adaptor can pick it up. Use of encryption is much less here than in the US; what we need to teach is that open networks does equal free wifi, but it is also open network and open information.
 
In the most recent exercise in London, Lyne set up three Wifi accounts to his warbike named “FreePublicWifi”, “Free Internet” and amusingly” “DO NOT CONNECT”. In San Francisco, 1,507 connected to these and in London, 2,907 people connected to them. 27 people connected to the  “DO NOT CONNECT” network in San Francisco, and 39 did so in London. In London, Lyne also found that only two per cent used a VPN and 317 used insecure mail protocols.

 

Lyne continued: “This willingness to connect to any wireless network that professes to offer free wifi, without ensuring you have some kind of security measures in place, is like shouting your personal or company information out of the nearest window and being surprised when someone abuses it. With a few extra command line arguments, it would have been trivial to attack nearly everyone in our study.”

FacebookTweetLinkedIn
ShareTweetShare
Previous Post

Infosecurity Europe 2014 > Big Data is No Universal Solution for Security Intelligence

Next Post

Research finds wifi booster plugs come with default passwords

Recent News

JD Sports admits data breach

JD Sports admits data breach

January 31, 2023
Acronis seals cyber protection partnership with Fulham FC

Acronis seals cyber protection partnership with Fulham FC

January 30, 2023
Data Privacy Day: Securing your data with a password manager

Data Privacy Day: Securing your data with a password manager

January 27, 2023
#MIWIC2022: Carole Embling, Metro Bank

#MIWIC2022: Carole Embling, Metro Bank

January 26, 2023

The IT Security Guru offers a daily news digest of all the best breaking IT security news stories first thing in the morning! Rather than you having to trawl through all the news feeds to find out what’s cooking, you can quickly get everything you need from this site!

Our Address: 10 London Mews, London, W2 1HY

Follow Us

© 2015 - 2019 IT Security Guru - Website Managed by Calm Logic

  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Features
  • Insight
  • Events
    • Most Inspiring Women in Cyber 2022
  • Topics
    • Cloud Security
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber Warfare
    • Data Protection
    • DDoS
    • Hacking
    • Malware, Phishing and Ransomware
    • Mobile Security
    • Network Security
    • Regulation
    • Skills Gap
    • The Internet of Things
    • Threat Detection
    • AI and Machine Learning
    • Industrial Internet of Things
  • Multimedia
  • Product Reviews
  • About Us

© 2015 - 2019 IT Security Guru - Website Managed by Calm Logic

This site uses functional cookies and external scripts to improve your experience.

Privacy settings

Privacy Settings / PENDING

This site uses functional cookies and external scripts to improve your experience. Which cookies and scripts are used and how they impact your visit is specified on the left. You may change your settings at any time. Your choices will not impact your visit.

NOTE: These settings will only apply to the browser and device you are currently using.

GDPR Compliance

Powered by Cookie Information