As Los Angeles and hundreds of other communities push to turn themselves into massive wireless hotspots, unsuspecting Internet users are stumbling onto hacker turf, giving computer thieves nearly effortless access to their laptops and private information, authorities and high-tech security experts say.
It's an invasion with a twist: People who think they are signing on to the Internet through a wireless hotspot might actually be connecting to a look-alike network, created by a malicious user who can steal sensitive information, said Geoff Bickers, a special agent for the FBI's Los Angeles cyber squad.
It is not clear how many people have been victimized, and few suspects have been charged with Wi-Fi hacking. But Bickers said that over the last couple of years, these hacking techniques have become increasingly common, and are often undetectable. The risk is especially high at cafes, hotels and airports, busy places with heavy turnover of laptop users, authorities said.
"Wireless is a convenience, that's why people use it," Bickers said. "There's an axiom in the computer world that convenience is the enemy of security. People don't use wireless because they want to be secure. They use wireless because it's easy."
For Mark Loveless, just one letter separated security from scam.
Logging on to his hotel's free wireless Internet in San Francisco last month, Loveless had two networks to choose between on his laptop screen -- same name, one beginning with a lowercase letter, one with a capital. He chose the latter and, as he had done earlier that day, connected. But this time, a screen popped up asking for his log-in and password.
Loveless, a 46-year-old security analyst from Texas, immediately disconnected. A former hacker, he knew an attack when he saw one, he said.
Most Internet users do not.
About 14.3 million American households use wireless Internet, and this figure is projected to grow to nearly 49 million households by 2010, according to JupiterResearch, which specializes in business and technology market research.
"There's literally probably millions of laptops in the U.S. that are configured to join networks named Linksys or D-Link when they are available," said Corey O'Donnell, vice president of marketing for Authentium, a company that provides security software. "So if I'm a hacker, it's as easy as setting up a network with one of those names and waiting for the fish to come."
