The History Of The (Fake) 'Free Public WiFi' You Always See At Airports
from the an-accidental-XP-virus dept
If you travel a fair bit, as I do, you've noticed at almost every airport that there's an "ad hoc" (i.e., computer-to-computer rather than computer-to-WiFi) option called "Free Public WiFi." It seems to be everywhere. I've never connected to it, because I know enough not to connect to an ad hoc offering, but I was always amazed at the fact that I see it in pretty much every airport I've been to. I had wondered if it was a honeypot scam for a while, but I couldn't believe that scammers would be able to set up such honeypots in so many airports worldwide and no one would catch them and take it down. So how could there be such "Free Public WiFi" (which obviously was not what it claimed to be) in so many places?The answer? Well, it's all Microsoft's fault.
Apparently, there was a bit of a bug (one of many...) in Windows XP in terms of how it handles certain situations, and it effectively created a "virus" in that unwitting travelers around the globe are all broadcasting "Free Public WiFi" from their computers without realizing it, after they tried to connect to such a network:
When a computer running an older version of XP can't find any of its "favorite" wireless networks, it will automatically create an ad hoc network with the same name as the last one it connected to -- in this case, "Free Public WiFi." Other computers within range of that new ad hoc network can see it, luring other users to connect. And who can resist the word "free?"And so it continues to spread. No one's quite sure where it started, but somewhere way back when, someone set up such an ad hoc network in an airport (perhaps as a joke or a honeypot), and it got picked up by others... and then it just continued spreading. Eventually, it should die out as Windows XP machines finally go extinct, but for now, enjoy (but don't bother connecting) the "Free Public WiFi" found in so many airports...
Not a lot of people, judging from the spread of Free Public WiFi. Computers with the XP bug that try to connect to the Internet will remember the name, create their own ad hoc networks and entice other users wherever they go.
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Filed Under: ad hoc, airports, free public wifi, wifi, windows xp
Companies: microsoft
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Apparently, there was a bit of a bug
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It might take a while. According to some numbers (sorry, no citations, I don't remember where I saw it :( ), about 60% of current windows machines are still running XP (some people are just "happy" with what XP offers, for various different reasons). I personally don't see myself switching away from XP for a while. I only use it for gaming and the "Vista Series" just don't offer enough RtB.
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As for upgrading, if your PC runs, don't. Just make sure you're on SP3. When it dies, I recommend Windows 7. It does provide better support for gaming.
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I'd been wondering why you see these ad hoc networks at every airport for the last 5 years or so.
One of life's mysteries solved!
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sp3
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Re: sp3
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sp3
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I've seen this more in Hotels than Airports
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Re: I've seen this more in Hotels than Airports
As noted in the above comment, you do indeed see this open ad hoc connections more in hotels than airports, and it isn't necessarily because unwitting travelers are ignorant of the need for patches. Some people who, for various reasons must pay for an internet connection in a hotel, then proceed to open up ad hoc network sharing of their internet connection as a (passive agressive) protest against the the internet charges their hotel is levying which they deem to be too high. Do a little reading on the web and you can find discussions of exactly this issue.
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worth noting
It was fixed with XP Service Pack 3. If I had an XP computer that was last updated two years ago, it would be safe from this one.
Not that it's any palliative, but people running around with Windows computers that out of date likely have way bigger problems than the ad-hoc exploit.
Some of those computers will be so compromised and laden with adware, download accelerators and toolbars that they can barely get online at all. Others will be the same machines flinging shit at those aware enough to keep their computers reasonably protected, if not avoid Windows altogether.
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Maybe you should get your system up-to-date, preferably with something other than a decade old OS, before you start calling others idiots for not knowing hwo to secure their systems. Also, your "testing" missed the key element of actually connecting to an ad hoc network first.
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And how do you figure he was hacked because he's seeing other people with a Free Public WiFi ssid?
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I'm quite sure viewing SSID broadcasts is not a threat vector. If so, Google streetview systems would be the most virus-laden computers in the land.
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Are you kidding? First off, blame*, truly*, and "where" - not "to where". You obviously don't know what you're talking about, and the fact that you couldn't get it to work is the real ID10T error.
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Re: Ugh
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Ah, those were the days.
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FPWiFi
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Welcome to 2010. You have been sleeping for the last 10 years.
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Re: Welcome to 2010. You have been sleeping for the last 10 years.
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I even wrote an article about it.
http://www.eanbowman.com/blog/2010/08/15/free-public-wifi/
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Not A Virus, A Prion
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Re: Not A Virus, A Prion
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More recently . . .
The only effect was to make it broadcast that network name and pass it on further. Thus why I call it a non-virus.
To my understanding, it was purposely made to catch attention and make someone patch the bug. So it only spread for about 10 days until a patch was made and distributed. In those ten days, it spread ridiculously far; China, Northern Canada (NORTHERN Canada), Sweden and Argentina all had confirmed cases of this on OS X machines.
No patch was ever made to remove the harmless non-virus. So some macs still advise it, but it can't spread anymore.
So yeah, just in case some of you had tracked down the signals and were scratching your heads at why some macs were broadcasting a known windows thing . . . now you know.
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http://www.hak5.org/episodes/episode-705
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Heh. I understand what it means in the linguistic context quite well. But I also understand that it has a meaning in wireless networking:
http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/wirelessfaqs/f/adhocwireless.htm
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Re: "ad hoc"
Now I want to make a joke RFC about "ad hominem access points".
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Re: Re: "ad hoc"
You sir, are an idiot
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The History Of The (Fake) 'Free Public WiFi' You Always See At Airports
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"Free Public WiFi"
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I think this was patched
Either way, a substantial number of people are still running older releases.
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Spirckle is an id10t
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Burberry Bags
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Burberry Bags
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Discount Christian Louboutin Boots
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Still going!
Considering that there are still people rolling with IE6, we'll probably see SP1 XP well into the 2020s...
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Are you kidding?
Who's job would it be to go around and (first) try to even FIND which person at a huge airport is running the hotspot. Then (second) "order" them to turn it off. And (third) spend time "forcing" them to turn it off. (Not sure how you do that one.) And (fourth) make sure they never turn it back on again. (Like the minute you leave the room.)
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Re: Are you kidding?
I reckon that the national police in a country would run a joint operation with local police to try and shut down such activities.
The real issue is whether the existing laws state that it's illegal. Technology has exploded so fast that laws are still lagging behind.
And to the person saying airports should sue, for what? If you are literate enough, it's quite clear this article is referring to a specifically-named network of ad hoc type and not the structured network offered by airlines. I was in an airport a few days ago and there were signs all over the place naming the airline-provided network which included the airline's name; there was no chance I'd pick "Free Public WiFi" over [airlinename]FreeWifiHotspot or whatever long, clear name they provided.
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