Threat of "drive-by hacking" a myth

The threat of wireless hacking has been greatly exaggerated, according to a top security expert at Computer Associates.

The so-called "war" is just vendor hype and not a serious problem to companies, claimed Simon Perry, divisional vice president of CA's security division.

He said the threat is only conceptual at the moment and has been blown out of proportions by the media and security vendors alike.

He said that most companies have adequate network protection in place or are not using the 802.11x technologies enough to cause a serious risk.

He told silicon.com: "Drive-by-hacking is only a theoretical attack because in most cases people would have just forgotten to turn the 802.11x encryption on.

"The likelihood of a hacker sniffing the wireless leg of the connection, from the WLAN to the base station, is far smaller than the hacker attacking an insecure gateway to the system."