As we continue to rely more on technology, keeping our information safe is becoming increasingly difficult. With Wi-Fi being the standard form of network communication for most business professionals who are on the go, the need for secure data transmission has become even greater. Public Wi-Fi locations like coffee shops, the airport, and even your home and office are not safe when sending and receiving data. According to idtheftcenter.org[i], in 2015 alone there were over 177 million cases of identity theft reported.
How do hackers access my data?
The two most popular ways of someone accessing your data over Wi-Fi are sniffing and rogue access points[ii].) Sniffing is when another user nearby captures the data your computer transmits over Wi-Fi, and then reassembles it to look for passwords or other unencrypted account information. The aptly named rogue access point is where someone will create a Wi-Fi hotspot that appears to be legitimate, like “Free Starbucks Wi-Fi,” or “Airport Public Wi-Fi,” and then waits for users to connect to it. Once the user is attached to the hacker’s hotspot, the users’ data transmission is all captured on the hacker’s machine. The hacker can then use specialized programs to reassemble the packet capture to reveal what the user(s) was looking at and if any sensitive information or passwords were used. One of the most effective solutions is to encrypt the traffic going between your infrastructure and your home computer/laptop, which is why VPNs were developed.
Source: https://info.bitsighttech.com/bitsight-insights-ransomware
