MacBook Hacked in 60 seconds

Internet users have been warned that it is fairly simple for miscreants to hack into laptops by sending malformed network traffic to a vulnerable computer via Wi-Fi, in less than 60 seconds! David Maynor, a senior researcher at security service provider SecureWorks, along with Jon Ellch demonstrated how this could be done on a MacBook Pro, at a Black Hat security event in Las Vegas. The duo warned internet users that a similar attack is possible on other laptops and desktops as well, and cautioned laptop users not to connect to networks they aren’t sure they can trust and to disable the wireless radio when it is not needed. Maynor explained that in order to launch an attack using the Wi-Fi driver flaws, the intruder has to be within 100 feet, or 30 meters, of its target. New wireless technologies that are extending this range significantly could increase the threat, so new bugs are likely to be found. They clarified that there is no immediate threat to the millions of laptop owners but should be a cause for concern to hardware and software makers. Maynor and Ellch are not releasing the details of their attack, and they deliberately did not show a live demonstration to prevent anyone from copying their attack but merely wanted to spread awareness among makers of buggy drivers. The duo said they want to educate developers and hardware makers about this threat before it becomes a wide-scale issue. Read more here.