Goldhawk Fights Back: Internet access in the wild blue yonder

Airlines all over the world are installing wireless internet, hoping for two things--that passengers will be attracted to this value-added feature and that airlines can develop a new revenue stream by charging extra for the service.

Surveys taken by the industry are showing that a meaningful number of passengers would choose a flight with a Wi-Fi network over a flight with none.

But Dave Ostrowski, security portfolio manager for IBM, wants to make sure we all know that added risks can come with the convenience. Ostrowski tells me his investgators have been monitoring hackers who are exchanging ideas and tactics about how to invade these airborne wireless networks.

Here is just one scenario that Ostrowski described for me:

Hackers book a seat on a Wi-Fi flight and create a bogus wireless network. Unsuspecting passengers turn on their laptops, the laptops detect the bogus network and log on. The network will have an ID that will look like it belongs to the airline.

If that happens, hackers are free to suck all kinds of information from your computer, plant spyware or malware on your laptop and then steal your identity or steal vital, secret information.

Hackers would also have a chance to borrow user names and passwords and hack into your company's mainframe computer system.

It's what Ostrowski calls a target-rich environment. Bad guys can book popular business flights or even long haul international flights, where they have all the time in the world to figure out how to break into your computer and your life.