DRIVE-BY SPAM ATTACKS HIT WIRELESS LANs The proliferation of unsecured corporate wireless networks is fueling a surge in drive-by spamming, a security expert warned attendees of the First International Security Users Conference in London. "These people simply drive up to a building armed with their pornographic e-mail, log into the insecure wireless network, send the message to 10 million e-mail addresses and then just drive away," said Adrian Wright, managing director of Secoda Risk Management. With more ISPs instituting no-spamming rules, these unsecured networks have become easy targets for would-be spammers. All they have to do is find an unprotected SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol) port on a company's server and then pose as legitimate users of the network -- the mail server can't tell the difference. Wright warned that between 60% and 80% of corporate wireless networks are unsecured, often because managers fail to change default settings when they install a wireless LAN. The security hole has led to the new phenomenon of "wardriving" -- driving around a city until you find an unsecured wireless LAN -- which leads to
"warchalking" -- drawing a symbol in chalk on a wall or pavement to mark the presence of a wireless networking node. And the practice isn't just confined to metro areas, said Wright, producing a photo of a warchalking symbol drawn on a buoy floating at sea. (CNet News.com 6 Sep 2002) http://news.com.com/2100-1033-956911.html?tag=fd_top -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
