Kaspersky Lab publishes the analytical article ‘Summertime Is Wireless Time’

Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management systems, presents a new analytical article written by Christian Funk, a Kaspersky Lab malware analyst in Central Europe. The article, entitled “Summertime Is Wireless Time”, discusses the security aspects of wireless Internet access, which take on particular importance during the summer holiday season. The author describes Wi-Fi-related threats, as well as an alternative method of wireless access – UMTS, a 3G mobile telecommunication technology.

The mobility of modern users and the difficulty of installing cable connections in all locations where access is required are factors that contribute to the popularity of wireless Internet access. Summer is the season of holidays and travel, when many people no longer have access to office or home Internet connection points and use wireless technologies more often than the rest of the year.

Wi-Fi, a technology used to transfer digital data via a radio channel to the local area network, is a popular option for wireless Internet access. The advantages of Wi-Fi include high connection speeds, accessibility, easy network deployment and independence from mobile phone providers. However, there are security threats associated with using Wi-Fi connections – both arising inside the network and posed by cybercriminals who illegally connect to it from the outside.

The Kaspersky Lab expert stresses that the Wi-Fi signal is not transmitted via a physically restricted medium and it can therefore be easily intercepted and amplified throughout the range of the signal, both inside and outside buildings. This significantly increases the vulnerability of Wi-Fi compared to cable connections, which transmit the signal in an enclosed space.

In a man-in-the-middle attack, cybercriminals hijack the communication channel, thereby gaining full access to the data transferred, without being detected. This may result in the theft of valuable information, since Wi-Fi is often used to access companies’ internal networks, e.g., corporate email accounts. In a successful man-in-the-middle attack, hackers are able not only to steal information but also to distort it or send it on somebody else’s behalf.

The author describes the methods that can be used to protect Wi-Fi networks, including traffic encryption and tunneling, as well as operating system settings that restrict access to confidential data. According to Christian Funk, protecting traffic by encrypting it can be useless if cybercriminals have already infected the computer with spyware which intercepts data even before it is sent over the network.

Christian Funk believes that the most effective method of encrypting and tunneling traffic is provided by virtual private network (VPN) technology. A home, leased or corporate computer can be used as a VPN server. Another benefit of this approach is secure access to corporate resources. Travelers may be interested in VPN services with time-based billing.

In Europe, UMTS, a third-generation mobile communication technology, is widely available, with coverage ranging from 60 to 90% of the territory depending on the country, while the pricing is quite competitive. From a security viewpoint, UMTS is advantageous in that it supports optimised authentication algorithms.

The author emphasises the importance of installing an effective integrated protection system on the computer, which includes a firewall and an application activity filter in addition to an antivirus scanner.

The full version of the article is available on Viruslist.com.

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