Your source for the most up-to-date terms, definitions, and acronyms for and about internet service providers.
Search for an ISP term
evil twin
Last modified: Thursday, October 29, 2009
Evil twin is a type of Wi-Fi attack, similar in nature
to Web site spoofing and e-mailphishing attacks. Here's how an evil twin attack
works:
A hacker sets its service identifier (SSID) to be the same as an
access point at the local hotspot or corporate wireless network. The hacker
disrupts or disables the legitimate AP by disconnecting it, directing a
denial of service against it, or creating RF interference around it. Users
lose their connections to the legitimate AP and re-connect to the "evil
twin," allowing the hacker to intercept all the traffic to that device.
[Source: Wi-Fi Planet]
Meeting the Evil Twin While the possibility of evil twins has existed for some time, it was only last month that a British cyber-crime expert drew attention to the escalating threat.
Webopedia's "Did You Know...?" Section Use this Webopedia knowledge section for an in-depth overview of specific technologies and occurrences in the areas of Computer Science, The Internet, and Computer Hardware and Software.
Wi-Fi Planet 802.11 news, commentary and information.
