Concerns have been raised about the possibility of wireless access points being used by hi-tech criminals to spread viruses and worms.
Researchers have made use of simulation software, which has previously been used to model the spread of diseases, to observe how quickly a worm, once released, would travel throughout wi-fi access points.
Their findings were worrying; they found that within 24 hours of an ‘outbreak’ the majority of vulnerable access points would be hit and within two weeks, 55% of all wi-fi access points would be compromised – meaning tens of thousands of people would be at risk.
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