☕ Prevent a KRACK attack - Another day, another record – hopefully you’re on board! - btbirkett@gmail.com - Gmail

☕ Another day, another record – hopefully you’re on board! - btbirkett@gmail.com - Gmail

5 – Prevent a KRACK attack 

Most people have no idea how vulnerable they are. 

 

I didn’t. 

 

You see, I got clobbered in the Tokyo airport a while back via a KRACK attack launched over Narita’s wireless network.  

 

A KRACK attack, in case you haven’t heard the term, happens when a bad actor manipulates a WiFi’s protected access via encryption keys used to establish a secure connection that allows ‘em to filch data when in close enough proximity. 

 

Anyway, I had quite the mess to clean up just 10 hours later when we landed in the US. 

 

I saw messages from my friends asking about the Nigerian princes who were apparently holding me hostage, heard from friends who’d been fished by crypto clowns promising to invest for ‘em and more. Even my bank wanted to check in! 

 

There are a couple of simple things you can do to help make your information safer when you’re out and about. 

 

1. Start by turning off your WiFi in public areas, especially if you’re not connecting for any reason. 
2. Turn off “auto-connect” and file-sharing, both of which can often be conveniently turned on by helpful programmers with each update. And do NOT connect to sensitive stuff like your bank account or key corporate systems if you can help it. 
3. And while you’re at it, keep your Bluetooth off, too. This helps prevent BlueBorne attacks which are designed to allow the bad guys to take control of your devices by exploiting weaknesses in Bluetooth (which at this point is pretty dang dated).