Kaspersky Lab publishes analytical article about Wi-Fi related Cybercrime threats and protection measures
Kaspersky Lab presents a new analytical article on the security issues that affect Wi-Fi, the popular wireless standard widely used to access local area networks and the Internet. The article is written by Christian Funk, malware analyst at Kaspersky Lab and describes Wi-Fi-related Cybercrime threats, their possible consequences and protection measures, as well as an alternative method of wireless access: UMTS, a 3G mobile telecommunication technology.
The full version of the article is available at Viruslist.com, while a summary can be found in the Kaspersky Lab Reading Room.
Summer is here, and more and more travellers are heading off on holiday and using public Wi-Fi access points to get online. This offers a number of advantages, such as independence from mobile phone companies, but also poses a threat to the integrity and confidentiality of the information being transferred. According to the author, Wi-Fi networks are vulnerable to so-called man-in-the-middle attacks, in which Cybercriminals hijack the communication channel and gain full access to the information transferred. Such attacks may target logins and passwords, credit card data or other confidential information.
Christian Funk believes that using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an effective method of encrypting and tunneling Wi-Fi data. Travellers who do not have a home or corporate VPN server may want to make use of the VPN services that are now widely available. The author also discusses an alternative to Wi-Fi Internet access: UMTS, a 3G mobile telecommunication technology which supports optimised authentication algorithms. Its coverage in some European cities reaches 90 percent of the territory, while pricing is quite competitive.
The Kaspersky Lab expert emphasises the importance of installing an effective integrated protection system on the computer that includes a firewall and an application activity filter in addition to an virus scanner.
The article may be reproduced provided the author, company name and original source are cited. Reproduction of this material in re-written form requires the express consent of the Kaspersky Lab PR department.
