Wireless Network Hacking

Do you feel more secure using your credit or debit card in a real store instead of an online retailer?  Your fears may be misplaced.  Shopping online or with cash might be proving to be safer than the alternatives due to recent trends.

Retailers And wireless network hacking

There has been a recent rise of wireless network hacking.  Criminals intercept the wireless signals to get your personal data.  These wireless fidelity networks are vulnerable to hacking.  The global information technology expert Aviva Litan (also the VP of Gartner, Inc) released findings in June 2007 demonstrate the increasing trend of wireless network hacking.

However, online retailers expect hackers and take security measures to encode your information.  wireless network hacking is planned for, and experts in computer safety are hired to thwart the attempts and build stronger protections.  The stores know that in order to stay afloat, they need to protect their customers from harm.

Brick and mortar stores, however, face difficulties with their POS (point of sale) machines that you use to swipe your card.  Many, particularly at gas stations, now use wifi technology to transmit your information.  Litan estimated that only about 30% of these card readers are actually safe from data breaches.  Quite a bit of your personal information is stored in that magnetic stripe, and that is the information that people are looking for when they resort to wireless network hacking.

Real World wireless network hacking

Computer networks are becoming more utilized in modern society.  A customer’s data becomes vulnerable to wireless network hacking as it races around cyberspace.  The low cost and convenience of wireless internet make it attractive to retail operations.  The information is sent in a similar fashion to radio waves, and anyone with the proper knowledge and equipment can “listen in” to the signals.  This is attributed to the rise in wireless network hacking.

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a system that encrypts personal data so that it would not be legible to anyone attempting wireless network hacking.  Many companies use this system to try and protect their customers’ personal and banking information from criminals.

However, Litan thinks that WEP is too easy to decode for the hackers.  It does not provide as much security as would be expected against wireless network hacking.  Businesses need to take stronger steps to protect their customers and employees from wireless network hacking.

Protecting Yourself From wireless network hacking

Litan advises that consumers use cash when they need to make real world purchases until gas stations and other businesses find ways to provide enhanced security.  Make sure to follow standard online safety tips, such as keeping your usernames and passwords secret and never sending personal information via email or instant messenger.  The information that is most at risk includes items such as bank account number, driver’s license information, number Social Security number.  Take care to always protect yourself from wireless network hacking.