Avast set up fake hotspots at the Mobile World Congress to see how many cybersecurity experts would actually fall for it and in just 4 hours, the attendees had unknowingly run 8 million data packets through our sniffing software. Now, it must be known that joining up with potentially unsecured free networks is not just a folly of the youth. Packet sniffing is not so much an attack as simply data analysis for future use. Hackers could try to trick users into installing malware, or they could try something less invasive, like packet sniffing, a way of monitoring the information that’s coming and going. Hackers can see all unencrypted connections, which can lead them to steal personal information, launch man-in-the-middle attacks, or even hijack sessions. These low-security hotspots are the perfect places to launch sneak attacks on users who join. The problem is, hackers know what people like. If they are away from their home, and they want to use their device or laptop, chances are they’ll do a quick skim of their Wi-Fi choices, then hook into whichever one seems open, free, and not shady. People also tend to like the path of least resistance, especially when they’re in a hurry. These days, people like to be online 24 hours a day.
This reacclimatization will take a little time, but there’s one little part of it we need to talk about right now – the free Wi-Fi.
After a full year of distance learning, preceded by a chaotic half-year of distance learning, both faculty and students are now reacquainting with being in person again, not to mention actually out in the world, away from their couch. School is back in session, and for many colleges, this means a return to campus.
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