Experts warn that free Internet connections could lead to identity theft, “Early Show” Consumer Correspondent Susan Koeppen points out.
She notes that nine million people fall victim to identity theft every year. And now, with thousands of wifi hot spots across the country, thieves are finding a new and easy way to steal your information.
Everywhere you look — there’s wifi. But web surfers beware: Hackers are out there and trying to use wifi to rob you blind.
Tim Pierson, an ethical hacker, told CBS News, “Information you’d send to and from your bank, information coming off of your credit card — any of those types of information you’d rather people not have, goes over wifi.”
Security experts estimate hackers can easily take in $1,000 worth of data from just one hacked computer.
Pierson explained, “I can basically do anything you would do on your computer and the best part about it, from the perspective of the hacker is, you’re never going to know I’ve done it.”
Pierson is a consultant who points out security flaws.
“The Early Show” asked Pierson and a fellow ethical hacker — whose name was given only as Dino — to show how easy it is to follow someone’s every move online, using just a laptop and some hacking software.
In a New York coffee shop, Koeppen started a Google search on wifi. She didn’t tell the hackers what she was looking up.
The hacker knew instantly that she searched for her name in the search engine.
Koeppen said all that hackers need to do is set up their own bogus wifi access point, such as one called “free public wifi.” Then they just have to wait for unsuspecting computer users to log in.
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