Few people know that there is a high probability that a virus or malicious code enters your computer through a WiFi network connection. This is due to the architecture they have these kinds of wireless networks.
So that you can protect yourself from these attacks that hackers frequently generate, you need to know which are the main threats that can break into your device via a WiFi connection.
This information can be found in the following paragraphs, in which we will explain, in detail, each of the threats to which you are exposed.
Can a virus or malicious code enter my computer through a WiFi network?
It is common to think that if a user is extremely careful not to open files from unknown persons that are received through e-mails and analyzed with an antivirus each pen drive Before connecting it, it will be impossible for a virus to enter the computer.
While it is true that the above cares are very important to keep a device virus free, Unfortunately, these are not all the ways that malware can enter your computer. By this we mean that through a WiFi network, to which you connect, a security hole is created which is used by virus programmers to access your PC. How do they do that? Very easy, when you connect to a WiFi network, public or private, what you are doing is being part of a wireless network.
This network is basically made up of computers, mobiles and one or more routers. As usual, this type of domestic and public architectures do not have a security design to prevent nodes (devices that belong to the same network) from communicating with each other. This is why when you join a wireless WiFi network, any participant on the network can access your device (as well as you can enter others).
In this way they can install any type of file on your mobile or PC without you noticing. Nowadays it is common for viruses, such as Roaming Mantis, to access a device Android via WiFi and modify the DNS addresses so that you are redirected to a site with malware and in this way your device is infected. But this is not so that you will never connect to a WiFi network again and that excessive charges of megabytes for your mobile data consumption come on your end of the month bill.
What you have to do is be careful and install a good antivirus that detects all threats immediately and warns you efficiently. Further, you must enter the configuration of your router (with the username and password) and verify, every certain period, that the DNS server has not been changed and that it remains in automatic detection or was modified for Google DNS or OpenDNS, among other reliable servers.
List of the main threats that can attack my device through WiFi connections
The indications that we gave you before it is convenient that you take them into account to avoid different types of threats that can attack your device through a WiFi connection. If you want to know what are those harmful strategies that you face, we invite you to continue reading.
The main threats are:
Malware Installation
The set of malicious programs is called malware They are designed to gain some kind of benefit and from the victim. They are characterized by being installed without the authorization of the user through deception and hiding inside the device so that it is not easily detected. Within this group are the virus, which affect the source codes of installed programs. But this is not all, you can also find the spyware.
Designed to spy on all the activities carried out by the user and ransomwaredesigned to hijack information and obtain a financial reward for freeing the data. Malicious software installation is common and easy to do, if you connect to a WiFi network and do not take into account the security recommendations. These programs install and act silently over time. For this reason, you should not forget that it is necessary to download a good antivirus so that it works in the background.
Phishing techniques
When you enter any website of an official entity, for example that of a bank, you will see that the connection protocol HTTPS appears in the URL. This means that the connection between your device and the server of that website it is safe and cannot be intercepted data transfer.
A habitual threat why you can attack a device via WiFi is simulate the graphic interface of that official page, which you trust, for you to enter all your credentials. That is, the Name user and password. In this way they will be able to access your account, if we continue with the bank’s example, and carry out any type of operation.
So you can avoid Phishing activity you need to pay attention to the Url address, since it will not start with the protocol HTTPS and it probably doesn’t have a site name similar to the official website. From all this it follows that you should not forget that The objective of this technique is to deceive you and steal all your personal information to access the real official website. So you should be aware of these scams when you connect to a WiFi network.
Man in the Middle attack
This kind of technique it is very easy to explain if the expression is translated Man in the Middle, which means man in the middle. This is also related to HTTPS, which blocks any intruder who wants to listen and interfere with the data communication between your device and a web server. When you connect to a WiFi network, what you do is ask the router to access a server to obtain certain information.
Then the router receives the data from the hosting and sends it to your device. In the middle of this path, programs are installed that are used to interfere with that data and thus know what is being talked about. Because of this It is important that you do not carry out commercial operations and transactions when you are connected to a WiFi network that you do not trust. This is because anyone who is connected to the same network can access your credentials.
Data leak
It is one of the most common risks to which devices that connect to a WiFi network that is not secure are exposed. When you are part of a wireless network, other participants in the network can access videos, images and personal documents that can damage privacy.
But this is not all also an intruder can enter the configuration menu of your browser and access the list of passwords and usernames of the different platforms that you save on your mobile device or PC. In this way obtains the most valuable information and pretends to be you on the different web portals without your knowledge. This technique is also called Spoofing or identity theft, since it poses as the legitimate owner of the personal data.
Network spoofing
As with spoofing websites to steal personal data, intruders also deceive victims by creating fake internet access points. In this way, they offer an open and password-free WiFi network in places frequented by people. The user accesses this WiFi signal without realizing the trap. Hackers, who also belong to that network, manage to see all the information that the scammed person has saved on the device.