Scammers can steal information by setting up wireless access points to simulate legitimate access points

• Security researchers warn against a hacking technique in which scammers set up a bogus wireless access point near a legitimate base station that they then jam.
• An "Evil Twin" that hijacks unsuspecting wireless transmissions is the latest security bugaboo, academic researchers in the U.K. asserted Thursday.
• The hacking technique is dubbed "Evil Twin" because scammers set up a bogus wireless access point near a legitimate base station that they then jam.
• "So-called 'Evil Twin' hotspots present a hidden danger for Web users," said Phil Nobles, a wireless and cybercrime expert at Cranfield University in Bedfordshire.
• "Users think they've logged on to a wireless hotspot connection when, in fact, they've been tricked to connect to the attacker's unauthorized base station," said Nobles in a statement.
• "The latter jams the connection to a legitimate base station by sending a stronger signal within close proximity to the wireless client " thereby turning itself into an 'Evil Twin'."
• "Cyber criminals don't have to be that clever to carry out such an attack," added Nobles.
• "Because wireless networks are based on radio signals, they can be easily detected by unauthorized users tuning into the same frequency."
• "Web users who use Wi-Fi networks should be on their guard against this type of cyber crime," he said in an accompanying statement prior to a presentation Thursday evening at London's Dana Center, a science and technology discussion forum.
• "Given the spread and popularity of wireless, users need to be wary of using their Wi-Fi enabled laptops or other portable devices to conduct financial transactions or anything of a sensitive or personal nature, for fear of disclosing this information to an unauthorized third party," added Collins.
• With false login prompts, the user unknowingly can give away sensitive data like passwords."