If you are our regular reader, you will probably find that atsignal jammer we try to identify and describe the most pressing issues related to personal security and privacy. In this post we would like to show you how weak our privacy is and how it can be breached. This is the main reason why we always say that wireless data transmission standards are very fragile and are not suitable for working with personal information.
Brendan O’Connor, American IT security specialist, showed his research at the BlackHat USA 2013 conference in Las Vegas. He created CreepyDOL (Creepy Distributed Object Locator) – a special app and firmware that works with F-BOMB (Falling / Ballistically-lanced Object that does backdoors). The F-BOMB is a really dangerous device based on Raspberry Pi, the tiny portable mini computer.
Why is it dangerous? Especially with this device, a malefactor will be able to create an entire network of devices that steal Wi-Fi traffic. Wi-Fi is pretty vulnerable, but with F-BOMB and CreepyDOL it gets even more dangerous. And most importantly, such a device is extremely cheap, and you can get all the components you need on the Internet for only around $ 55-60.
F-BOMB is based on an ARM central unit with a clock frequency of 700 MHz. It also has 256 MB of RAM and two Wi-Fi controllers. As mentioned earlier, these devices simply steal Wi-Fi traffic and collect user personal information. It’s also quite small, so it’s easy to hide in any public place. You can put a couple of these CreepyDOLs on a network and they will share data between them.
The main problem is that every smartphone has security gaps and sends a lot of personal data unencrypted. This fact makes interception of Wi-Fi traffic really dangerous. It is also possible to track any user in the F-BOMB’s network area, you just need to know the victim’s MAC address.
Unfortunately, VPN is not an option here. For example, to create a VPN tunnel on an iOS device, you first need to connect the Wi-Fi network and configure VPN. During this time, the iPhone will already receive a few updates, messages from your Facebook account and sync your files with Dropbox. We have to mention that iOS sends all this data unencrypted.
Brendan O’Connor said the goal of his project is not to create a spy device, but to show people that the government can only persecute them with billions of dollars, but with an ordinary man who has $ 500 and so on will also get 10 F-BOMBs. Therefore, the security of your personal data is your main goal.
But what can you do with this new way of stealing personal data? It is almost impossible to avoid using wireless networks in a modern world. But we can help. Above all, you should avoid mobile banking apps, observe our rules for secure mobile banking and you will find out why. The next step will be to avoid social networks, at least not access public places, and most importantly – avoid public Wi-Fi hotspots that are dangerous because you don’t know you are connecting: simple Wi-Fi Router or a hacker laptop.
However, if you want to be sure that your data is safe, you should get a Wi-Fi signal storage device. It blocks all 2.4 GHz devices in your area, including F-BOMB. Stay safe!