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Now drones are being used to expose bank details and passwords: Hackers manage to access 150 phones an hour through Wi-Fi

Sarah Griffiths

March 21, 2014

Experts in London have proved it's possible to use drones to steal data
They modified an aircraft capable of tapping into a phone's Wi-Fi settings
Once it had access, it was able to read and steal personal information
Called Snoopy, the drone takes advantage of smartphones that actively search for networks
From this it can also see networks those devices have accessed in the past
During tests, hackers exposed credit card information and passwords

News that hovering drones can now steal passwords from unsuspecting phones will do little to ease fears that the widespread use of unmanned aircraft could infringe upon our privacy.

Hackers in the U.S have managed to 'steal' information, including Amazon passwords, bank details and even people’s home addresses using an aircraft.

While it might sound like the crime of the century, the exercise was an experiment to show it is possible to use drones to tap into a smartphone’s Wi-Fi settings and access valuable information.

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Hackers have proved that it is possible to steal information, including Amazon passwords, bank details and even home addresses from smartphones that have Wi-Fi turned on, using specially adapted drones (a stock image of a quadcopter is pictured)

The test was conducted in London and the group will share their findings at the Black Hat Asia cybersecurity conference in Singapore next week, CNN reported.

The drone, known as Snoopy, seeks out smartphones that have Wi-Fi turned on.

It then makes use of built-in technology which can see what networks the phones have accessed in the past.

In theory, almost any drone could be adapted to do this.

London-based Sensepost security researcher Glenn Wilkinson, said: ‘Their phone will very noisily be shouting out the name of every network its ever connected to.

'They'll be shouting out, “Starbucks, are you there?...McDonald's Free Wi-Fi, are you there?”’

When this happens, Snoopy hovers nearby and emits a signal masquerading as another network and the phone ‘thinks’ it is accessing a trusted Wi-Fi network.

However, when it connects to the quadcopter’s network, Snoopy will intercept everything a smartphone sends and receives using a complicated method described by the company

Wilkinson said: ‘Your phone connects to me and then I can see all of your traffic.’

He is able to see the websites a person visits, any credit card information entered or saved, their location, usernames and passwords.

In the wrong hands, this could potentially leave a mystified smartphone user out of pocket.

The hackers managed to gain access by looking at a unique identification number known as a Media Access Control (MAC) address. This number matches web traffic to a specific device.

To demonstrate the effectiveness of the technology, Wilkinson spent an hour with CNN showing them how he could obtain network names and GPS coordinates for 150 smartphones used by Londoners.

While collecting metadata and network names is not strictly illegal, intercepting passwords and credit card details with the intent of using them is.

The drone emits a signal masquerading as a trusted Wi-Fi network, which the phone 'trusts'. However, once connected, this network intercepts everything a smartphone sends and receives, giving hackers access to password information (illustrated) and even bank details that are entered or saved

The ethical hackers said they're demonstrating the technology to highlight how vulnerable smartphone users can be.

The drones might seem even more threatening to people than remote hackers because the aircraft can hover close to potential ‘victims’ are incredibly mobile.

There is a prospect that the technology could be put to good use for law enforcement purposes, however, such as identifying looters in a riot.

While it is not thought that anyone is currently using this snooping technique in the real world, smartphone users can protect themselves by shutting off their Wi-Fi when they are not using it, or only access secure networks.

WATCH VIDEO http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2586006/Now-drones-used-expose-bank-details-passwords-Hackers-manage-access-150-phones-hour-Wi-FI.html#ixzz2xBSQSrjq

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