Beware The Firesheep: The Dangers Of Unprotected Wireless Networks

ITBusinessEdge: Beware The Firesheep: The Dangers Of Unprotected Wireless Networks

The Firesheep add-in, which allows hackers tapping into unprotected Wi-Fi networks to hijack users' social media accounts, has already been downloaded 500,000 times. Secure your Wi-Fi network, Paul Mah tells small businesses.

---

You might have already heard about the Firesheep add-on for the Mozilla Web browser, which was released onto the Internet less than two weeks ago. Written by freelance Web application developer Eric Butler, the extension software looks for users who access certain social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter over an unprotected wireless network. Once found, Web sessions of recognized sites are listed in a handy sidebar, where a double-click of the mouse is all it takes for the intruder to take over. Depending on actual security controls in place, the hacker might even go ahead to cement his hijack by changing the login password.