Snarfing
Snarfing is information theft or data manipulation in wireless local networks such as WLANs or WPANs .
etymology
The English term snarf is probably an artificial word made up of snort (to sniff up ) and scarf (to devour ) and is used more or less synonymously for it in colloquial language .
In the US television series Trollz there is a cartoon character named Snarf . The snarf is usually a cute, little animal with a very sensitive nose, but can turn into an incurably hungry monster that can easily clear even large obstacles out of the way when searching for food. Therefore, snarfing is now used colloquially in English for stealing .
Working method
In the context of information technology, snarfing means that wireless devices are first tracked down in wireless networks and then attempts are made to attack them by exploiting security loopholes. As a Janus attacker , for example, the snarfer can fool another network node and spy on information and data. A particularly high risk of falling victim to a snarfer exists in so-called hot spots , where wireless access to networks is granted in public spaces.
Snarfing first appeared on Bluetooth on equipments, which in this context Bluesnarfing is spoken.
Defense measures
Snarfing can be made drastically more difficult with appropriate measures on software and hardware to increase information security , such as the use of passwords and encryption , as well as the qualified allocation of access rights .