Question

2. (4 pts) Describe a scenario in which an access point impersonation attack could be used to steal personal financial information.

Answer 1

Access Point Impersonation Attacks:

In this type of attacks an hacker tries to access a device using wireless networks.Example of this attacks is evil twin ,war driving attack,even trozans come into this category.

• An evil twin is a crooked Wi-Fi access point that appears to be authorized but is set up to spy on wireless communications.This type of attack may be used to steal the passwords of unsuspecting users, either by monitoring their connections.
• The attacker snoops on Internet traffic using a fake wireless access point. Unaware web users may be invited to log into the attacker's server, prompting them to enter sensitive information such as usernames and passwords. Often, users are unaware they have been cheated until well after the incident has occurred.When users log into unsecured (non-HTTPS) bank or e-mail accounts, the attacker intercepts the transaction, since it is sent through their equipment. The attacker is also able to connect to other networks associated with the users credentials.
• Fake access points are set up by configuring a wireless card to act as an access point (known as HostAP). They are hard to trace since they can be shut off instantly. The counterfeit access point may be given the same SSID and BSSID as a nearby Wi-Fi network. The evil twin can be configured to pass Internet traffic through to the legitimate access point while monitoring the victim's connection, or it can simply say the system is temporarily unavailable after obtaining a username and password.