Early computer viruses spread over what we called "sneaker net," with one infected floppy disk inserted in one computer after another. Online networks make infections move much faster — but, until now, all the infections had been from computer to computer, or server to computer. They had never spread from one disconnected Wi-Fi network to another before.
Researchers at the University of Liverpool have created (in the lab only, thankfully) what may be the first computer malware that can spread like the common cold: over the air, depending on proximity between the infected host and an uninfected victim.
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The malware, called "Chameleon," sits on a network and basically sniffs the data and credentials passing through it. It can hop from access point to access point, and just like a cold, moves more quickly in densely populated areas. Those places naturally have more access points offering Wi-Fi connections to the unsuspecting public. To put this in perspective, anytime you're accessing a Wi-Fi network, you're connecting to an access point — the world and Starbucks are full of them.
Researchers observed this remarkable and frightening behavior in the lab.
“When Chameleon attacked an AP [access point], it didn’t affect how it worked, but was able to collect and report the credentials of all other Wi-Fi users who connected to it," said Alan Marshall, professor of network security at the University of Liverpool. "The virus then sought out other Wi-Fi APs that it could connect to and infect."
Apparently, the lab-grown virus is so aggressive that it actively seeks the weakest or most vulnerable part of each network. If it finds an encrypted or firewalled access point, it simply moves to the next, more vulnerable one. Plus, because Chameleon resides on the network and not on individual computers, it's virtually undetectable by most security software. Leading consumer security software manufacturer Symantec declined to comment.
The good news is that Chameleon is merely a proof of concept. The researchers were simply proving it could be done, to help prepare a countermeasure for the day such a virus is discovered in the wild. So beware the sneezing AP.
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