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"Free Wi-Fi" Scam In the Wild

Posted by kdawson on from the click-to-get-pwned dept.

DeadlyBattleRobot writes in with a story from Computerworld about a rather simple scam that has been observed in the wild in several US airports. Bad guys set up a computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network and name it "Free Wi-Fi." You join it and, if you have file sharing enabled, your computer becomes a zombie. The perp has set up Internet sharing so you actually get the connectivity you expected, and you are none the wiser. Of course no one reading this would fall for such an elementary con. The article gives detailed instructions on how to make sure your computer doesn't connect automatically to any offered network, and how to tell if an access point is really an ad hoc network (it's harder on Vista).

19 of 332 comments (clear)

  1. Free is still free for me by LinuxGeek · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, they would have a really difficult time turning my linux based portable into a zombie. I guess that would be risk free wifi for me, Yeah! Oh, and while in public, I use stunnel to a secure server. Sniff all of the data you want while I use your free wireless.

    --

    Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain
    1. Re:Free is still free for me by spellraiser · · Score: 5, Funny

      The lesson: Don't f*ck with someone who has a four-digit userid on slashdot.

      --
      I hear there's rumors on the Slashdots
    2. Re:Free is still free for me by Nutty_Irishman · · Score: 5, Funny

      I know what you mean, I use that "Free Wi-Fi" every time I'm in the airport with no problems. Now I have freewifi.exe process running all the time, even when I'm not in the airport! Haha, take that, suckers!

    3. Re:Free is still free for me by Jon+Abbott · · Score: 5, Funny

      The lesson: Don't f*ck with someone who has a four-digit userid on slashdot.
      Four- or less -digit userid! Get it right! :^)
      --
      Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
    4. Re:Free is still free for me by vinmar · · Score: 2, Funny

      Four-or fewer-digit userid! Get it right!

    5. Re:Free is still free for me by slyborg · · Score: 5, Funny

      And pointed out my UserID to the same friend.
      ...who secretly rolled their eyes and promised self to find cooler friends....
    6. Re:Free is still free for me by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 2, Funny

      I think I saw this in Portland while looking for a MetroFi link at the Hilton during the Microsoft Vista Launch. I couldn't get it to connect to my Windows Mobile phone- and now I know why. The OLAP processor probably rejected the ActiveX.

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    7. Re:Free is still free for me by WaZiX · · Score: 4, Funny

      if ($userid >= 4 digits)
      {
      FuckWith($user) = false;
      }

      There, now we can all agree!

    8. Re:Free is still free for me by DamnStupidElf · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...who secretly rolled their eyes and promised self to find cooler friends....

      Out of a set of 2030 possible people, right?

    9. Re:Free is still free for me by Phroggy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, hi.

      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
    10. Re:Free is still free for me by Per+Abrahamsen · · Score: 2, Funny

      You don't have a four digit /. user id, you are not cool.

  2. Great! by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now I can take a well-configured Linux lappy to the airport, hook up through these bad guys, and make extra sure to do everything illegal, immoral, and dangerous I can think of over their pipe without a smidgen of guilt. Woo and yay!

    --
    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
    1. Re:Great! by LinuxGeek · · Score: 2, Funny

      Now I can take a well-configured Linux lappy to the airport, hook up through these bad guys, and make extra sure to do everything illegal, immoral, and dangerous I can think of over their pipe without a smidgen of guilt. Woo and yay!
      Sounds like a great idea. If you have enough time between flights you may want to fire up nmap and nessus against *.fbi.gov and *.cia.gov and just wait... and watch...
      --

      Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain
  3. Re:P. T. Barnum... by TodMinuit · · Score: 2, Funny

    Thanks to Windows, they are unknowingly born every clock cycle. And so goes the easy-of-use vs. security tango.

    --
    I wonder if I use bold in my signature, people will notice my posts.
  4. Re:Washington Dulles too by flynt · · Score: 1, Funny

    I've seen this in the B terminal of Dulles Airport, everytime I fly out.

    Are you sure it's not you?

  5. How would you tell? by lwriemen · · Score: 3, Funny

    Doesn't running Windows already turn your computer into a zombie?

    1. Re:How would you tell? by isaac · · Score: 4, Funny

      Not neccessarily but it can turn it's users into zombies.
      That's MacOS. "Jobs.... Joooooobs...."

      --
      I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. For Entertainment Purposes Only.
  6. Better yet... by KingSkippus · · Score: 3, Funny

    Help other folks out. Set yourself up as a proxy, advertise yourself as "Free Wi-Fi" too, and let everyone else (at least, everyone who connects through you) safely use the scumbag's paid wi-fi connection for free.

    But if you must have some innocent fun, you really should have your machine mirror images so that they're returned upside-down. Not all of them, just a very few that meet some criteria based on a hash of the user's MAC address or something. Imagine their confusion when their buddy's laptop shows the picture normally and they're sitting there thinking, "What the...!!?"

  7. Gimme your lunch money by cirby · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...newbie.