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Wifi vulnerability
Cyber Security Hacking Risk Information Security Public Wifi VPN WiFi Wifi vulnerability

Hidden Dangers of Public Wi-Fi: What A Traveler Needs To Know

 

Public Wi-Fi networks have become ubiquitous in our modern world, offering convenience and connectivity to travellers and commuters alike. However, beneath the surface lies a web of hidden dangers that could compromise your privacy and security. As an expert in cybersecurity, it's crucial to shed light on these risks and provide travellers with the knowledge they need to protect themselves in an increasingly connected world. 

One of the most significant dangers of connecting to public Wi-Fi is the risk of falling victim to a cyberattack. These networks are often unsecured, making it easy for hackers to intercept sensitive information transmitted over them. From passwords to financial data, travellers risk exposing their most personal information to prying eyes. Another hidden danger of public Wi-Fi is the prevalence of rogue hotspots. 

These malicious networks are designed to mimic legitimate Wi-Fi networks, tricking unsuspecting users into connecting to them. Once connected, hackers can launch various attacks, from phishing scams to malware downloads, putting travellers' devices and data at risk. Furthermore, public Wi-Fi networks are often monitored by cybercriminals looking to steal valuable information from unsuspecting users. 

By intercepting unencrypted data packets, hackers can gain access to usernames, passwords, and other sensitive information, leaving travellers vulnerable to identity theft and fraud. To mitigate the risks associated with public Wi-Fi, travellers should take proactive measures to protect themselves and their data. One of the most effective ways to stay safe is to avoid connecting to public Wi-Fi networks altogether, especially when handling sensitive information such as online banking or email access. 

If connecting to public Wi-Fi is unavoidable, travellers should use a virtual private network (VPN) to encrypt their internet traffic and protect their data from prying eyes. Additionally, travellers should enable two-factor authentication on all their accounts to add an extra layer of security against unauthorized access. It's also essential for travellers to keep their devices and software up-to-date with the latest security patches and updates. 

By regularly updating their devices, travellers can patch known vulnerabilities and reduce the risk of falling victim to cyberattacks. In conclusion, while public Wi-Fi networks offer convenience and connectivity to travellers, they also pose significant risks to privacy and security. By staying vigilant and taking proactive measures to protect themselves and their data, travellers can minimize the hidden dangers of public Wi-Fi and enjoy a safer and more secure travel experience.
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Wifi vulnerability
data security Public Wifi security threat Technology User Privacy Wifi vulnerability

Avoiding These WiFi Errors is Essential Because They Put Your Data at Risk

 

Your WiFi connection might go unnoticed by you. The world is in order as long as it is operational. But maintaining your privacy and keeping your data to yourself requires a secure WiFi network. And you might be unknowingly making one of the numerous WiFi errors that jeopardise your security and data. The most frequent WiFi errors that put your data at risk are discussed by tech expert and writer Monserrat Cancino at Tech Detective, along with the fixes you should keep in mind to address the issue. 

Public Wi-Fi 

When you need to connect at the airport, coffee shop, or mall, having a public Wi-Fi network is very helpful. However, Cancino warned that doing this might put your data in danger. "As you can see, when you join a Wi-Fi network, a connection is made between your device and a server that allows you to access the Internet. 

According to Cancino, public Wi-Fi makes it simpler for hackers to put themselves between any unprotected device connected to that hotspot and the server, which gives them easy access to your information. The solution is to use caution when connecting to a public WiFi network. 

"Avoid accessing your bank accounts, email, and any other apps that may contain sensitive personal information (home address, credit card number, phone, etc.) if you have to connect to a public Wi-Fi network because your mobile data has run out," Cancino advised. In order to avoid connecting to a public network, "I also advise purchasing a data plan." 

Keeping your system and apps outdated

Cancino reminds us that updates may include new security features to safeguard your information in addition to fixing any performance problems. So you're putting your data at risk if you haven't updated your device or installed apps in a while, Cancino said. To avoid having to install updates manually, make sure your device's 'Automatic Downloads' feature is turned on. Keep in mind that this feature will only operate if you have disabled low power mode and are using a fast Internet connection. 

Not altering the settings on your router

Cancino cautions that hackers can easily access router default settings because they are shared by all routers made by the same manufacturer. As soon as you purchase a new router, try changing your IP address and password.

Straightforward Wi-Fi password 

It's common to use simple passwords to access your Wi-Fi network, Cancino said, if you're forgetful like me. Because hackers might target you and use your information, doing this, unfortunately, puts your information at risk. For each of your accounts, use a different password that is at least eight characters long. Don't forget to include numbers, symbols, lowercase and uppercase letters, he advised. "When creating a new password, please avoid writing consecutive keyboard combinations, such as 123, and don't use any personal information like nicknames." 

Reluctancy in using VPN 

Virtual private networks (VPNs) are excellent for protecting your information because they prevent websites and hackers from tracking or accessing it. Additionally, they conceal your IP address, allowing you to browse and access content that was originally made available in a different country securely (great news if you enjoy streaming movies or TV shows! )," said Cancino. To protect your devices, consider setting up a VPN.
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Wifi vulnerability
Android Android Security Android Users Data Breach Educational Institute User Credentials User Data User Privacy Wifi vulnerability

Thousands of University Wi-Fi Networks Dislcose Log-In Credentials

 

Multiple configuration vulnerabilities in a free Wi-Fi network used by several colleges can enable access to the usernames and passwords of students and teachers who connect to the system using Android and Windows devices, according to the findings by researchers. 

WizCase researchers lead by researcher Ata Hakçl evaluated 3,100 Eduroam setups at universities throughout Europe and discovered that more than half of them have vulnerabilities that threat actors might exploit. 

They noted that the risk of misconfiguration might spread to other companies throughout the world. Eduroam offers free Wi-Fi access at participating institutions. It provides log-in credentials to students, researchers, and faculty members, allowing them to access the internet across many universities by utilizing credentials from their own university. 

Researchers found vulnerabilities in the execution of the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) used by Eduroam, which offers numerous levels of authentication when individuals connect to the network. Some of these authentication steps are not implemented properly in some colleges, causing security flaws.

Researchers wrote in a report posted Wednesday, “Any students or faculty members using Eduroam or similar EAP-based Wi-Fi networks in their faculties with the wrong configuration are at risk.” 

“If you are using an Android device and have Eduroam Wi-Fi set to auto-connect, malicious people could capture your plaintext username and password by only getting 20 or so meters in the range of you.” 

WizCase evaluated several configuration guidelines and built a test environment with multiple attack scenarios for the study. Overall, their analysis indicated that in the majority of institutions with misconfigured networks, threat actors may establish an “evil twin”, Eduroam network that a user would mistake for the actual network, especially on Android devices. 

Referring to Eduroam's catalogue application that performs certificate checks, researchers stated, “This could result in these devices automatically sending their stored credentials in order to connect to the evil twin Wi-Fi network for users not using eduroamCAT.” 

Researchers emphasized that the issue is not due to any technical flaw in Eduroam's services or technology, but rather due to improper setup instructions provided by the institutions' own network administrators to those setting up access. 

Moreover, while each institution supplies resources and personnel to assist Eduroam functioning, researchers discovered that there is no centralized management for the network – either as a whole or at each university where the system is in place. This signifies that a minor misconfiguration may make it a target for hackers. 

Researchers narrowed down the issue further by dissecting the numerous consecutive steps of EAP authentication, discovering that inadequate implementation of the last level of this authentication, known as "Inner Authentication," is at the foundation of the problem. Inner Authentication is accomplished in one of two methods in EAP. 

One method is to utilize the Plain Authentication Protocol (PAP), which sends users' credentials to the authentication server in plaintext and relies on Outer Authentication to completely encrypt the traffic with a server certificate. 

The alternative method utilizes Microsoft Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol version 2 (MSCHAPv2), which understands that there may be errors in the “Outer Authentication stage, and transfers the password in a hashed, non-plaintext form. 

Mismanaged Certificate Checks 
“When a network with the same Wi-Fi name appears, Android devices will not check whether this certificate is trustworthy or not, and will not even notify the user about the certificate before connecting,” they explained. 

Even an operating system that properly performs certificate checks can disclose data since many users do not understand what a certificate check implies and will permit the connection to proceed even if they get an alert concerning the certificate. 

According to the researchers, this indicates that the problem can arise on Windows as well if a system is misconfigured. iOS devices are not vulnerable to the vulnerability since they do not enable connections to EAP networks without first installing the EAP configuration file, which ensures the validity of the server-side certificate. 

As per the researchers, 2,100 of the 3,100 Eduroam participating university setups examined by WizCase are possibly impacted by the issue. 

According to the firm, it may be prevented by returning to the second technique of Inner Authentication. WizCase contacted Eduroam in December to share their results and received a response the same day. 

In accordance with WizCase, Eduroam officials stated that they are aware of “Eduroam identity providers who do not follow the requirements of the Eduroam policy and leave their own users unprotected,” agreeing with researchers that this conduct is “unacceptable.” It is unknown whether Eduroam contacted its customers to alert them about the issue.
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Wifi vulnerability
Apple Bug iOS Vulnerabilities and Exploits WiFi Wifi vulnerability

Low-Risk iOS Wi-Fi Naming Issue can Compromise iPhones Remotely

 

According to recent research, the Wi-Fi network name issue that entirely disabled an iPhone's network connectivity had remote code execution capabilities and was discreetly patched by Apple earlier this year. 

On Monday, Apple released iOS 14.7 for iPhones, which includes bug fixes and security improvements as well as a remedy for the Wi-Fi denial-of-service issue. However, the company has not yet provided security information that may suggest whether its vulnerability has been fixed. 

The denial-of-service vulnerability, which was discovered last month, was caused by the way iOS managed string formats associated with the SSID input, causing any up-to-date iPhone to crash when connected to wireless access points with percent symbols in their names, such as "%p%s%s%s%s%n." 

While the problem could be solved by resetting the network settings (Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings), Apple is likely to provide a fix in iOS 14.7, which is currently accessible to developers and public beta testers. 

Researchers from mobile security automation business ZecOps discovered that the same flaw could be abused to accomplish remote code execution (RCE) on targeted devices by simply adding the string pattern " % @" to the Wi-Fi hotspot's name, which may have had far-reaching repercussions. 

The issue was termed "WiFiDemon" by ZecOps. It's also a zero-click vulnerability as it allows a threat actor to infect a device without needing user interaction, however, it does necessitate that the setting to automatically connect Wi-Fi networks is enabled (which it is, by default). 

"As long as the Wi-Fi is turned on this vulnerability can be triggered," the researchers noted. "If the user is connected to an existing Wi-Fi network, an attacker can launch another attack to disconnect/de-associate the device and then launch this zero-click attack." 

"This zero-click vulnerability is powerful: if the malicious access point has password protection and the user never joins the Wi-Fi, nothing will be saved to the disk," the company stated. "

After turning off the malicious access point, the user's Wi-Fi function will be normal. A user could hardly notice if they have been attacked.

The RCE variant was discovered to be exploitable in all iOS versions before iOS 14.3, with Apple "silently" fixing the problem in January 2021 as part of their iOS 14.4 release. The vulnerability was not issued a CVE identifier. 

Given the vulnerability's exploitability, iPhone and iPad owners must update to the most recent iOS version to reduce the risk associated with the flaw.
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Wifi vulnerability
IoT Vulnerability and Exploits Wifi vulnerability

Vulnerabilties Found in Realtek Module

A new type of severe rated vulnerabilities has been revealed in the Realtek RTL8170C Wi-Fi module. A hacker could exploit these vulnerabilities to gain access to a device and attack wireless communications. According to experts Vdoo, an Israeli tech IoT firm, if an exploit is successful, it would result in control of complete WiFi module possible root access in the Linux or Android OS, of the embedded devices using this module. 

Hacker News reports "Realtek RTL8710C Wi-Fi SoC underpins Ameba, an Arduino-compatible programmable platform equipped with peripheral interfaces for building a variety of IoT applications by devices spanning across agriculture, automotive, energy, healthcare, industrial, security, and smart home sectors." These vulnerabilities impact all IoT and embedded devices that use the module for connecting to Wi-Fi networks and the hacker would have to be on the same Wi-Fi network. It is because the firmware knows the network's pre-shared key (PSK) or uses the RTL8710C module. 

PSK, as the name suggests, is a cryptographic code that is used to verify wireless devices on LANs. "In the same vein, the RTL8170C Wi-Fi module's WPA2 four-way handshake mechanism is vulnerable to two stack-based buffer overflow vulnerabilities (CVE-2020-27301 and CVE-2020-27302, CVSS scores: 8.0) that abuse the attacker's knowledge of the PSK to obtain remote code execution on WPA2 clients that use this Wi-Fi module," reports The Hacker News. An earlier investigation in February revealed similar vulnerabilities in the Realtek RTL8195A Wi-Fi module, the primary one being a buffer overflow vulnerability (CVE-2020-9395). 

It allows a hacker who is in the range of an RTL8195 module to completely hijack the module, without needing a Wi-Fi password. In a possible real-world attack situation, experts performed a PoC (proof of concept) exploit where the hacker disguises as an authorized access point and sends an infected encrypted GTK (group temporal key) to the supplicant (client) with the help of WPA2 protocol connection. GTK is used for securing broadcast and multicast traffic. "During the analysis, we have discovered and responsibly disclosed six major vulnerabilities in Realtek’s RTL8195A Wi-Fi module that these devices were based on," said Vdoo.

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