Wi-Fi Virus

Researchers have demonstrated the first airborne Wi-Fi computer virus. The paper, by Jonny Milliken, Valerio Selis, and Alan Marshall, is "Detection and analysis of the Chameleon WiFi access point virus," EURASIP Journal on Information Security.

Abstract: This paper analyses and proposes a novel detection strategy for the 'Chameleon' WiFi AP-AP virus. Previous research has considered virus construction, likely virus behaviour and propagation methods. The research here describes development of an objective measure of virus success, the impact of product susceptibility, the acceleration of infection and the growth of the physical area covered by the virus. An important conclusion of this investigation is that the connectivity between devices in the victim population is a more significant influence on virus propagation than any other factor. The work then proposes and experimentally verifies the application of a detection method for the virus. This method utilises layer 2 management frame information which can detect the attack while maintaining user privacy and user confidentiality, a key requirement in many security solutions.