Industry News Home More stories like this... RSS Feed

Wi-Fi networks vulnerable to viral attack

Tens of thousands of wireless networks can easily fall victim to viral attacks from cyber crooks due to vulnerabilities in their routers and their lack of internet security software, scientists say.

According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, those located in densely populated urban areas are particularly vulnerable as was discovered in a recent experiment.

"These wireless networks are an excellent target for computer viruses, because they're always on, always connected to the internet, and don't have specific software to protect them," a podcast by the scientists states.

Simulations carried out by the scientists in cities including San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Boston revealed that an infection on a small number of routers could spread within hours to thousands of others.

Online security measures such as encryption and putting in place strong passwords for the Wi-Fi networks can help prevent such attacks from spreading.

Internet security featuring our award-winning anti-spyware, anti-virus, firewall and spam protection. Visit www.pctools.com to upgrade your protection