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How is that sort of technology not possible? Is it not possible to connect to a secured wireless network with enough effort, and then maybe perform a MITM attac
by safeaim 15y ago
How is that sort of technology not possible? Is it not possible to connect to a secured wireless network with enough effort, and then maybe perform a MITM attack? Maybe the user used the same password on sites not protected with SSL. Or the hacker maybe manipulated traffic at router-level etc.
A far fetched scenario indeed, but not impossible.
However I do agree with you that the most likely scenario was him being phished or exposed to a trojan.
- chrislomax 15y agoA trojan might be a better answer, they said it initiated from his IP so it may have launched when he actually logged into Paypal himself. Might make more sense than the way I went about it
- code_duck 15y agoIf you're a criminal who wants to do something from someone's IP, what's easier - (a) drive to their house, hack their wifi, and sit outside or (b) install a trojan on their computer and remote control it I'm going to go for (b) personally. (a) would work, though!
- chrislomax 15y agoYes I agree, I wouldn't have come to the conclusion of option a originally if I had not watched a quite in-depth report on tv about it. It was quite unreal really how easy it was, they sat on a quiet suburb area, scanned for all the wireless networks and waiting for information to come in
- code_duck 15y agoAll along, I've been hoping that the average person would start to take computers seriously and make an honest effort to learn what is going on with them... since the average person has started using computers throughout the day, unlike say, 1992. However, this has not happened and indeed, people are pleased to obliviously broadcast their personal details across their neighborhood without even considering 'if I can pick this up, can my neighbor next door listen in?'. They'd probably figure it out if it was just a radio, right? Security hazards of unsecured (or poorly secured, say WEP) wifi has been known for some time, of course. My current favorite is coffee shop that don't use AP isolation... nothing is more exciting than eavesdropping on students doing their nursing homework.
- rmc 15y agoAll this effort to steal money from someone who (I think) lives with their parents?! A lot of the things you say "far fetched, but not impossible"/"enough effort" are misleading. These things are about as likely as winning the lottery several weeks in a row. Possible. But be realistic. What is realistic and happens a lot is (a) bad computers security (b) password reuse (c) simple passwords ("password1" and friends) (d) one site someone gets hacked and people know that password (e) some malware on the machine. These things are much more likely than someone sitting outside their house.
- safeaim 15y agoHaha, how is my statement of it being far fetched misleading? The scenario is far fetched, but possible, didn't say it was likely. The only reason I replied to your comment was that you said "That sort of technology per se is not possible.". That's not only misleading, but also wrong.