“The attacker creates his own Wi-Fi point in a public place, but calls it the same or with a similar name to the establishment where he is located. At the same time, an attack is applied to the establishment’s Wi-Fi router. , which disconnects users from it. Then the users’ devices connect to that “double” and thus give the hacker access to all their Internet traffic,” Gataullin explained in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Sometimes, when connecting to a fake point, a person sees an “authorization page” that is fake. There, most of the time it is suggested to log into the Network through email or social networks. By entering data on this page, a person sends it to hackers.
The group of potential victims of these hackers includes users whose smartphones allow automatic connection to already known Wi-Fi networks, so this function should be disabled, the expert advises.
If the device asks for re-identification, but the user previously pressed the “Forget Network” button, then it is better to check the list of currently available networks: among them there may be points with the same name, including a fake one.
Cybercriminals can read, change, or even steal sensitive information such as passwords and card numbers. Since anyone can connect to a public Wi-Fi network, it is impossible to accurately determine who can view or intercept your data on the Internet, warned Megafon expert Alexander Golubchikov in a conversation with Izvestia.
