A security researcher who specializes in uncovering Wi-Fi bugs has found a series of new ones he dubbed “FragAttacks.” The bugs affect the Wi-Fi standard itself, with some dating back as late as 1997. Through this type of attack, a malicious actor could intercept a target’s information, trigger malicious code, or take over the device. Three of the vulnerabilities uncovered by the researcher, Mathy Vanhoef, are design flaws in the Wi-Fi standard and therefore affect most devices.
The other vulnerabilities are caused by programming mistakes, according to Vanhoef. He stated that every Wi-Fi product is affected by at least one vulnerability, with most affected by several. The vulnerabilities can be exploited by intercepting victims’ authentication credentials, abusing insecure IoT devices by remotely flipping a smart power socket on and off, and by servicing as a foothold to launch advanced attacks, according to Vanhoef’s research.
Read More: ‘FragAttacks’: Wi-Fi Bugs Affect Millions of Devices
