Those smartphone-controlled quadricopters you might see flying around at a beach or park might not be as innocuous as you might think, based on a recently announced proof-of-concept project by security expert Sven Dietrich and others.
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The project combines a toy remote-controlled helicopter (like the one here)and a computer configured to attack wi-fi networks. Think of it as an attack drone, but carrying a payload of botnet-creating malware, perhaps, rather than a missile.
The proof-of-concept even has a name that will bring back memories of a science fiction computer that aims to control the world: SkyNET. For the botmaster, the advantage is obvious: the controlling computer is mobile, and thus much more difficult to track down.
SkyNET uses a Parrot AR.Drone Quadricopter (linked above) which can be controlled by an Android smartphone or iDevice. Added to the mix to enable SkyNET operations are a lightweight Linux computer (the Parrot isn't going to lift as much as a Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion), 3G mobile broadband, GPS, and a pair of wi-fi cards: one of which controls the drone and one which is used to attack wireless networks.
The Parrot AR.Drone costs $299 before any sales tax and shipping, and accounts for about half of SkyNET's cost of $600. Researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology which developed SkyNet are working to make the system even less costly, according to Dietrich.
Although one things that a lot of home wireless network owners fail to do is change the password on their router, Dietrich said that's not enough. Hiding the network's SSID will help, and another step that would help is restricting access of the wireless network to known MAC addresses.
Although many believe hackers love to target businesses, when it comes to making botnets, hackers love to attack less well-protected home networks and computers, as they are generally far easier to turn into bots.
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