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Web Attack Knows Where You Live
The attack exploits the way routers handle requests for ID information.
Credit: Picture Nation
One visit to a booby-trapped Web site could direct attackers to a person's home, a security expert has shown.
The attack, thought up by hacker Samy Kamkar, exploits shortcomings in many routers to find out a key identification number.
It uses this number and widely available net tools to find out where a router is located.
Demonstrating the attack, Mr Kamkar located one router to within nine meters of its real-world position.
Many people go online via a router and typically only the computer directly connected to the device can interrogate it for ID information.
However, Mr Kamkar found a way to booby-trap a Web page via a browser so the request for the ID information looks like it is coming from the PC on which that page is being viewed.
From BBC News
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