The WiFi Coconut is just a very powerful router. Where most routers make do with two to six antennas, the Coconut has 14, one for each channel in the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi spectrum. That lets the coconut listen and log every channel simultaneously, creating a scannable record of everything that happened on the Wi-Fi spectrum within listening range.
The biggest threat is something called a KARMA attack in which attackers disguise themselves as a trusted Wi-Fi network. If you’ve ever been told to avoid open Wi-Fi networks in public places, this attack is the reason why — although surprisingly, it works even if you’re nowhere near an unsecured network.
There’s a simple way to protect yourself against a KARMA attack: tell your devices not to auto-join any public Wi-Fi networks. The specific path varies between operating systems, but if you poke around your Wi-Fi setting and preferences, it shouldn’t be too hard to find. (Don’t forget your phone; mobile devices are vulnerable to the same attack.)
See https://www.theverge.com/23404587/wifi-coconut-hak5-public-network-auto-join-vulnerability
#technology #vulnerabilities #WiFiCoconut #security #publicwifi