Image: Ann Millspaugh/Flickr
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Mesh networks, originally developed for military use, utilize wireless access points to create an ad hoc internet, allowing users to avoid sending communications through a centralized internet service provider or telephone company.Though Chameleon wouldn't bring down a mesh network itself, it could expose mesh network users to hackers, who could then intercept communications. Monitoring mesh network traffic requires direct access, and Chameleon does just that. If Marshall and his fellow researchers could create an airborne wifi virus, then who is to say that state-supported hackers in Venezuela, Ukraine or anywhere else—even in the US—couldn't develop something similar, or haven't done so already?"There's no doubt Chameleon-like virus could expose protestors and activists using wireless mesh network."
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