"Evil Twin" Wireless Routers: the new hacking approach

Hackers started using a new technique to get hold of private information from public wireless routers' users. It's called the "evil twin" approach and the technique is based on the following principles:

• The hackers go to an area where there's a public wireless access point
• In this area they deploy a new wireless access point with the exact same name and properties as the public wireless access point
• This way the users are mislead in using the "evil twin" access point instead of the real one and all transfered data can be monitored by the hackers
  
• In doing so, the users share private information, such as passwords, links and emails without even knowing

This kind of activities have already been detected in a first-class private lounge of an airline company in a USA airport and in a specialized workshop for luxury cars, which had a room where their costumers could use public Wi-Fi access while waiting for their cars to be ready.

Source: Módulo Security News (Brazilian Portuguese)