Have you ever wondered if someone is trying to spoof your network to acquire confidential information? With the advent and rising popularity of public WiFi networks, this event has become all too common. Hackers can easily duplicate a network’s SSID and lead returning clients to automatically associate to the duplicated SSID (this is known as a honeypot attack) without the user realizing they’re not connected to the correct network.
Often the hacker sets up their own laptop as a proxy server for Internet access, allowing the victim to connect to the Internet and transmit data without reason to believe their security has been compromised. The hacker then begins capturing all packet traffic and data passing through, an action otherwise known as a man-in-the-middle attack.
This might lead users to believe public WiFi networks are simply not worth the hassle. But avoiding this whole ordeal is as simple as using the AP aliasing features of MetaGeek software like inSSIDer or Chanalyzer, ensuring the network you connect to is the real Slim Shady™… er, network.
Aliasing Your Networks
The broadcasted SSID here at MetaGeek is “MetaGeek,” naturally. Here is what the MetaGeek network with two APs and four radios looks like without AP Aliasing:
To make sure you know which networks are yours, you can alias them by selecting the first radio in Physical mode and clicking the pencil icon. These are now named “MetaGeek Trusted.”