Without citing particular incidents, the N.S.A.
#Public wifi hacker Bluetooth
It is meant as a vivid reminder that hooking on to public Wi-Fi, or enabling Bluetooth connections, or even the capability to make a purchase by tapping a reader with a phone, is an invitation to have nonencrypted data seen by anyone.Īnd then there is the risk of being spoofed. Some participants take glee in revealing the contents of a visitor’s phone on a big display for all to see. At conferences like Black Hat, where government officials are hunting this week for new recruits, exposing the vulnerabilities of mobile devices is something of a sporting event. “The risk is not merely theoretical these malicious techniques are publicly known and in use.” The warning links readers to videos of how easy it is for hackers to use an open Wi-Fi network, one that requires no passwords, to harvest passwords and the contents of passing cellphones.Ĭybersecurity experts have long warned about the dangers of public internet in coffee shops, airports, hotel rooms and similar venues. “Avoid connecting to public Wi-Fi, when possible,” the warning says, stating that even Bluetooth connections can be compromised.
#Public wifi hacker free
But the message is a turning point: After a decade in which every restaurant, hotel and airline felt competitive pressure to improve their free Wi-Fi, the nation’s leading signals intelligence agency is trying to throw on the brakes.
Government officials say they are fully aware that getting people to heed the advice is about as likely as getting them to sit outside at a baseball game fully masked.
In an eight-page document, the agency described how, in a year marked by ransomware attacks on pipelines, meatpackers and even the police force in Washington, D.C., clicking on to the local coffee shop’s network was asking for trouble. In a warning to all federal employees, leading defense contractors and the 3.4 million uniformed, civilian and reserve personnel serving in the military, the National Security Agency issued an unusually specific admonition late last week that logging on to public Wi-Fi “may be convenient to catch up on work or check email,” but it is also an invitation to attackers. Oh, and one more thing: It has just proclaimed that it’s time for government employees and contractors to get off public Wi-Fi, where they can pick up another kind of virus. The Biden administration would like you to get a vaccine and wear a mask.
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