Threat of "drive-by hacking" a myth

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: John Q. Public <tpublic () dimensional com>

It's okay, we're safe now.

.nhoJ

_____


http://www.silicon.com/bin/bladerunner?30REQEVENT=&REQAUTH=21046&14001REQSUB=REQINT1=50400

Monday 14th January 2002   5:25pm 

Threat of "drive-by hacking" a myth 
Hackerz in the hood?

The threat of wireless hacking has been greatly exaggerated, according
to a top security expert at Computer Associates.

The so-called "war" is just vendor hype and not a serious problem to
companies, claimed Simon Perry, divisional vice president of CA's
security division.

He said the threat is only conceptual at the moment and has been blown
out of proportions by the media and security vendors alike.

He said that most companies have adequate network protection in place
or are not using the 802.11x technologies enough to cause a serious
risk.

He told silicon.com: "Drive-by-hacking is only a theoretical attack
because in most cases people would have just forgotten to turn the
802.11x encryption on.

"The likelihood of a hacker sniffing the wireless leg of the
connection, from the WLAN to the base station, is far smaller than the
hacker attacking an insecure gateway to the system."

Pia Heikkila



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