Case Study: Firesheep, A Real-World Example of Social Media Hacking
Firesheep, a Firefox extension created by software developer Eric Butler, allows anyone to access anyone else’s social media accounts so long as both parties are connected to an unsecured wireless network, such as a coffee shop’s free Wi-Fi. According to Butler, the attack is relatively simple and works by exploiting “cookies” on the user’s browser. As stated on the Firesheep site (http://codebutler.com/firesheep): “When logging into a website you usually start by submitting your username and password; if an account matching this information exists, you receive an automatic reply with a ‘cookie,’ which is used by your browser for all subsequent requests.”
If you log in to your ...
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