Wi-Fi is a fundamental part of our digital lives, whether it’s in your office, favorite coffee shop, or hotel. However, there’s a hidden peril in this convenience of automatically connecting to networks remembered on your devices. Let’s dive into why this feature, though helpful, can be a gateway for cyber threats. As a chief executive, business owner, or top-level executive, you’re likely familiar with the convenience of connecting your devices to Wi-Fi networks once, and if you allow your device to “remember” the network names, your device can automatically reconnect to any networks with those names from then on.
The Risk: When Convenience Becomes a Liability
Imagine this: You’ve visited a coffee shop and connected your smartphone to their Wi-Fi network. Your device remembers this network to connect automatically next time. Seems harmless, right? Here’s where the risk creeps in.
Once you tell a device to automatically reconnect to a remembered network in range, your device will continuously send out “probes” or signals looking for that network, typically one to four times a minute and more often when other events can trigger a probe. A threat actor can set up a Wi-Fi access point with a common SSID name, such as “home.” And what if your device is configured to automatically connect to a network you trust named “home?” When your device, say your smartphone or laptop, is within range, it might automatically connect to this rogue Wi-Fi network without your knowledge.
The Trap: A Deceptive Doppelgänger
This rogue network, set up by the threat actor, is a doppelgänger of your trusted network but with nefarious purposes.
Remember: Your device connects to the rogue access point automatically and often without alerting you at all. (see “what about passwords” below). This attack does not need you to make any mistakes to succeed, and it can happen without your knowledge.
Ten common network names threat actors can use that will often lure devices from unsuspecting users to connect include:
- xfinitywifi
- linksys
- Marriott_Guest
- Hyatt
- hhonors
- NETGEAR
- Guest
- dlink
- FreeWifi
- Home
To make it even easier to connect, there are commercially available devices that listen for the SSID name in a probe from an unsuspecting user’s device and then broadcast that name in an effort to capture the device’s connection. In that case, it doesn’t matter how unique your SSID is, an automated device can attempt to establish a connection without your knowledge. If you are technically minded, you can read the section at the bottom of this article for a detailed explanation of how probing works.
Once connected, the attacker can intercept your device’s data. This interception could be called a “Man-in-the-Middle” attack. Thanks to encryption technology, the attacks are more complicated than they used to be, but they are still possible in some circumstances. If the attacker successfully establishes the Man-in-the-Middle connection, imagine sending confidential emails, accessing your company’s financial data, or even logging into your personal banking app, all while an unseen cybercriminal is potentially recording every keystroke and data transfer.
Another serious concern is if threat actors know of undiscovered vulnerabilities that will allow them to hack into your device. This is one of the most important reasons to always apply security updates when they are released and always keep backups for the unlikely scenario of an update causing a problem on your device. Even if you applied all of your security updates, sometimes attackers know of ways to break in that haven’t been discovered by the device’s manufacturer, operating system producer, or app developer yet. Thus, there are no updates written. Bad actors can use tools to scan your device and exploit vulnerabilities quickly. Their ultimate goal would be to take control of, or pwn, your device. This isn’t always easy if you have all your updates in place, but it isn’t impossible either.
The Consequences: A Digital Pandora’s Box
The consequences from attackers successfully tricking your device into connecting to their rogue access point and exploiting vulnerabilities can range from private information exposure to significant breaches:
- Personal Data Theft: Sensitive personal information can be stolen.
- Corporate Espionage: Confidential business information could be compromised.
- Identity Theft: Your digital identity could be used for fraudulent activities.
- Network Infiltration: Once a device is compromised, it can serve as a gateway to your business’s entire network.
Prevention: Turning Awareness into Action
As executives, instructing your workers to implement security measures is crucial. Here are some actionable steps you can take in the Wi-Fi settings of your laptops, phones, and tablets:
- Forget Networks: In your device’s Wi-Fi settings, examine the network names identified as “remembered” or “my networks.” Tell your device to ‘forget’ networks by removing them from the ‘my networks’ list, except those you use frequently. Were any of the ten listed above remembered on your device? To establish the unauthorized connection, the threat actor would need to use the name of one of the networks you leave remembered or use the device mentioned above that responds to probes for names your device sends.
- Avoid a False Sense of Security: If your device has the “Ask to Join Networks” setting, read the fine print. The device will still join known network names without asking. The setting is usually more about asking before joining new or unknown networks, rather than known ones.
- Turn off Wi-Fi When You Aren’t Using it: To reduce your exposure dramatically, disable Wi-Fi when you are not using it. Your device will stop probing, stop listening for access points broadcasting their name, and won’t connect to any Wi-Fi networks. Some devices have a quick shortcut to turn off Wi-Fi from an easily accessible menu, but they might turn Wi-Fi back on again after a while or when you move to a new location. On those devices, if you go into “Settings” to disable Wi-Fi, it should stay off until you manually change the setting to “on” again.
What about Wireless Passwords?
If the original remembered network you connected to, such as the coffee shop network, had no password, your device would join the network automatically and not alert you. This is a common risk with some remembered networks. You may have noticed that many hotels and some coffee shops and restaurants now require no Wi-Fi password; this is undoubtedly to reduce guest frustration and the number of calls from hotel rooms to the front desk asking for the password. The prevalence of public networks without passwords makes it especially important for you to tell your device to forget networks and be sure to forget the ones with no passwords.
However, if the “remembered” network did have a password, then to get your device to connect automatically without warning you, the threat actor will need to set the same password on the rogue access point. It is simple for an attacker to know the password for coffee shops and other networks that share the password with guests.
Many companies will set passwords on networks and hopefully don’t write the password on dry-erase boards in the meeting room. Even if the passwords are configured at the company, and users do not know the password since the IT Professionals configure their computers, if an attacker is able to access one computer, in-person or remotely, there is a chance they can run a script to find out the wireless password for the company. This is why some companies use enterprise-level Wi-Fi authentication that does not rely on a shared password. Or, attackers can use social engineering to successfully trick a user into providing the network password. If a user’s device doesn’t detect any anomalies between the rogue access point and the access point it is used to connecting to, the user will not be alerted they are connecting to a rogue access point, and their device will connect automatically.
An exception that might generate an alert is when there is a discrepancy between the security settings of the known network and the one to which the device is trying to connect. An example is when the rogue access point does not have a password, but the remembered network does. In this case, some devices will prompt you: “Are you sure you want to join this network?” The default button, “join,” is preselected. Unless you are on the lookout for this kind of message and know the seriousness, you might click “join” and not think anything of it. Sometimes, the device will connect and not alert the user but will quietly list the word “open” or “insecure” under the network name on the list of networks under settings. Most people do not periodically look at the Wi-Fi settings, so the label often goes unnoticed. Even if a user does notice the label, there is a good chance the attacker already probed for weaknesses and exploited any vulnerabilities they discovered.
However, if you ever see a prompt asking you to re-enter a password, that is a huge red flag, and you need to assess the situation carefully to determine if your device is attempting to connect to a rogue access point with an inaccurate password.
And to be sure you don’t have a false sense of security, remember that devices do not prompt the user if the security settings of the new network match those of the remembered network, and the device will quietly automatically connect even if it’s a rogue access point.
What about a VPN?
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a technology that encrypts data as it moves to and from your device. This encryption can prevent attackers from reading your data. However, it’s important to note that a VPN doesn’t protect you from attackers who scan for unpatched vulnerabilities, search for open ports, and exploit weaknesses on your device. Even if you use a VPN, you’re still vulnerable to such attacks. Follow the instructions above to help ensure your online safety.
Final Thoughts: Balancing Convenience with Caution
In today’s fast-paced digital world, convenience often beats caution. However, in the realm of cybersecurity, this trade-off can have dire consequences. As leaders, our role extends beyond making decisions; it includes understanding and mitigating the risks associated with the technology we use every day. Stay safe, stay informed, and lead your organization confidently in this digital age.
Technical Details About the Probing Process
For the more technically minded, here is more information about the probing process. When we say that devices are constantly probing, they are, and the probing might be once every 15 to 60 seconds. The probing frequency can vary, for example, if you put your device in low battery mode.
In addition to devices probing, know that Wi-Fi access points, including rogue access points attackers use, broadcast their network name, a process called beaconing, sometimes as often as ten times every second. The rate of beaconing is usually configurable by your IT Professionals.
If you look at “available networks” in “settings” on your device, you might notice that the list takes a few seconds to build because your device is cycling through multiple Wi-Fi frequencies, listening for the beacons.
An interesting setting not everyone is familiar with on wireless access points is that you can instruct the access point to be “hidden.” If you do, then the access point will not send out beacons. However, hidden networks, while not broadcasting their SSID, will still respond to direct probes that contain their SSID name. So, as soon as your device sends out a probe looking for the remembered hidden network, which it does regularly, as described above, the access point will respond, and your device will connect. Just because a network you “remembered” is hidden at your home or office doesn’t affect a threat actor’s ability to lure your device into connecting to their rogue access point, even if the hacker’s access point is not hidden.
Additionally, to reduce the delay in connecting, your device will send immediate probes in certain circumstances, such as when it wakes from sleep, when you open your laptop’s lid, or if you just disabled airplane mode. Your device will quickly find access points, even rogue ones, especially if they are “remembered.”
A significant benefit to attackers of your device probing periodically, such as every 15 to 60 seconds, is when the attacker doesn’t already know the network names your device has remembered. The attacker tools wait for the probe, then know the name, and the rogue access point automatically claims to have that network’s name. This is a very powerful way for attackers to capture as many unsuspecting users as possible without needing to predict the names of remembered networks.
Subscribe to maximize your executive potential with Foster Institute’s E-Savvy Newsletter, packed with practical IT security solutions and actionable strategies for success: https://fosterinstitute.com/e-savvy-newsletter/