Amazon’s web hosting business could be making it easier for hackers to steal information such as wireless passwords, according to a German security expert.
Thomas Roth, a security consultant, told Reuters that he was using Amazon's cloud-based computer services to run wireless password hacking tools, with some success.According to the news wire, Roth’s self-penned software runs on Amazon’s cloud computers, and is being used to test as many as 400,000 passwords a second.Reuters warned that any internet users with relatively simple to guess passwords could find themselves open to this kind of hack.
Roth, who will distribute details of the hack at the Black Hat security conference this month, said that he was publicizing it as part of his civic responsibility.
At issue, he claims, is password encryption software called WPA-PSK, which is relatively simple to hack with a little brute force, and has widespread use.Roth has used the Amazon professional website hosting systems to power his hacks, which can cost as little as 28c per minute to run. Something that he suggested many had said would be impossible."People tell me there is no possible way to break WPA or, if it were possible, it would cost you a ton of money to do so," he said, according to Reuters."But it is easy to brute force them."
V3.co.uk has asked Amazon for a comment on the report, but so far has not had a response. However, in a statement released to Reuters the company suggested that the hack could be in violation of its terms and conditions.
"Testing is an excellent use of Amazon Web Services. However, it is a violation of our acceptable use policy to use our services to compromise the sec purity of a network without authorization," Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener told Reuters.
Roth continues to work on his hack, and recently cut down the time needed to find passwords from around 20 minutes to just six.The V3 App store has games, downloads and more. Visit the store now.
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