UK Retail Wi-Fi Security: Vulnerabilities and Ongoing Risks

Wi-Fi security in UK retail environments is improving, but shops remain vulnerable to the sorts of attacks carried out as part of the infamous TJX credit card heist. The cybercrooks, who lifted more than 21 million credit card records, leapfrogged onto the retailer's credit card database after first breaking into the wireless network of a regional store, a subsequent investigation ahead of upcoming US trials revealed. The incident ought to have acted as a wake-up call to retailers worldwide, but progress has been a little slow.

A Wi-Fi war walk, passively detecting Wi-Fi networks in a popular shopping areas around Oxford Circus last week, revealed numerous problems.

Data was collected over a one hour period on 16 December using security scanning tools from Motorola AirDefense. No networks or devices were actively compromised during the exercise

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