Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Scientists Demonstrate Virus That Spreads Across Wi-Fi Access Points

Posted by Soulskill on from the proof-of-concept dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Researchers at the University of Liverpool have shown for the first time that WiFi networks can be infected with a virus that can move through densely populated areas as efficiently as the common cold spreads between humans. The team designed and simulated an attack by a virus, called 'Chameleon,' that not only could spread quickly between homes and businesses, but avoided detection and identified the points at which WiFi access is least protected by encryption and passwords. The research appears in EURASIP Journal on Information Security." The technical details are explained in the journal article.

3 of 68 comments (clear)

  1. PostScript Virus by Greyfox · · Score: 5, Funny

    I wanted to do something like that on network-attached postscript printers a few years back, but didn't have an easy way to open a network socket in PostScript. My virus would have moved from printer to printer and done nothing else except replace every instance of the word "Strategic" with the word "Satanic" on printed documents.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  2. Pure BS. Nothing to see here by markgamache · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is not science or IT security, it is pure PR crackpot FUD conjecture. The "Chameleon" virus doesn't exist. Please read my paper on my fake bluetooth virus. Bluetooth is MUCH more pervasive than Wifi. More cell phones than Wifi, more cars, and about the same number of computers. In my model, they all get infected and your wireless speakers, phones and computers play "It's a Small World" 24/7 until we all go crazy. It ends a lot like 28 Days later.

  3. Re:Keyword; simulated by khasim · · Score: 5, Informative

    Worms hop from system to system without the need for any human interaction. They exploit vulnerabilities in services listening on ports. Worms need a network.

    A virus infects other files with copies of itself. But an uninfected machine still needs someone to run one of those files on the uninfected machine to infect the uninfected machine.

    Viruses are a lot less common now. Mostly you see trojans and worms and "blended" threats that are a mix of trojans and worms.