The FINANCIAL — Wi-Fi networks can be infected with a virus that can move through densely populated areas as efficiently as the common cold spreads between humans, according to University of Liverpool.
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, according to University of Liverpool.
“Wi-Fi 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," Alan Marshall, Professor of Network Security at the University, said.
“It was assumed, that it wasn’t possible to develop a virus that could attack Wi-Fi 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,” Marshall added.
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