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Any public WiFi networks such as those in kopitiam, McD, Starbuck etc present a bigger security threat than ever to computer users because attackers can intercede over wireless to “poison” users’ browser caches in order to present fake Web pages or even steal data at a later time. We in ITD have tested hacking tool known as Kismet which are wireless network detector and intrusion-detection system that can only run on Mac OS X…. That’s why wireless security guy preferred Mac Book for their gear. Mac OS X kernel has the most powerful features to do or to study security penetration test.

It is scared to announce that it’s simple for an attacker over an 802.11 wireless network to take control of a Web browser cache by hijacking a common JavaScript file, for example.

“Once you’ve left Starbucks or Kopitiam, you’re owned. I own your cache-control header,”  ”You’re still loading the cache JavaScript when you go back to work.

Based on our (ITD: wifi and security admin) finding during CWNA training; the open networks have no client protection. Nothing stops us from spoofing the [wireless access point] and talking directly to the client, the user’s Wi-Fi-enabled device. It is showing that browser-cache poisoning over Wi-Fi can be kept in a persistent state unless the user knows how to effectively empty the cache.

Once the cache is poisoned, it’s going to stay there. This means that an attacker can intercede to “poison the URL” of the victim so that he will see a fake Web page when they try to visit a specific Web site or try to insert a “shim” that could “ship your internal pages off to a remote server once you’re in a VPN.”  We suggest, user must perform continuous manual clearing the cache, or using private-browser mode.

On the other hand, we doesn’t know how widely attacks based on poisoning the browser cache via 802.11 actually happen in Malaysia. Just be careful coz the potential for trouble is so evident and ITD would like to advice corporate security professionals to try to “forbid users from taking laptops onto open networks,” Some vendors, such as Verizon, are looking at solving this problem with a custom client that is tied to specific operating systems.

My Previous Post : Dont Set Your Laptop Auto-Connect to Open/Public Wi-Fi Networks

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: cache poisoning, ICT security, Internet Security, website hacked, wireless security