At the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, two researchers showed how criminals can attack laptops due to a flaw in WiFi card software. David Maynor of SecureWorks and independent researcher Jon Ellch, aka Johnny Cache, opted for a video presentation instead of a live demo so as not to provide too much information… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Security
Intel Admits To Centrino Wi-Fi Security Flaw
Intel has discovered flaws in its Centrino’s wireless technology that could make laptops hosting it susceptible to security attacks such as worms. The vulnerabilities, according to a statement by the company, “exist in the Microsoft Windows drivers for the Intel 2200BG and 2915ABG PRO/Wireless Network Connection Hardware because of the way that they currently handle… Continue Reading
Most Home Users Secure Wi-Fi Networks: Study
A new study by JupiterResearch indicates that majority of consumers — 60 percent — use security applications such as WPA (WiFi Protected Access) and WPA2 on their wireless networks to protect their computers and data. JupiterResearch analyst Ina Sebastian said “security is the number one concern for Wi-Fi network owners” as “they are particularly afraid… Continue Reading
Intel Haifa Staff Tap Away In WiFi Bomb Shelters
The Hizbollah-instigated bombings did not affect the work of the staff at Intel Corp’s Haifa research center in Israel as the company’s bomb shelters were fully equipped with a wireless network. Intel Israel spokesman Kobi Bachar said he does not “see any impact on output” of the weekend incident in Israel’s largest city, adding that… Continue Reading
BT Advocates WiFi For Spying On Neighbours
BT believes WiFi can be beneficial to the work of local authorities. The technology, according to BT, can be used to locate noisy parties and, with the installation of Webcams and sensors, may help fight crimes. The company hopes to expand the coverage of its ‘wide radius’ wireless broadband networks to six new cities in… Continue Reading
Crazy-Long Hacker Sentence Upheld
A Federal appeals court upheld the 9 year sentence for Brian Salcedo for his role in the wireless intrusion and attempted credit card theft at a Michigan Lowes hardware. The sentence is the longest ever handed down for a computer crime. Some question the harshness of the sentence given that other credit card fraud schemes… Continue Reading
Cisco Details Wireless LAN Vulnerabilities
Cisco announced two severe vulnerabilities in Wireless Control System software. The vulnerabilities could lead to attackers gaining encryption keys, and in one case, full control of the administration utility. Cisco is planning an update soon. Via [informationweek.com]… Continue Reading
Poor Wi-Fi Drivers Can Expose Laptops
Drivers are the next playground for WiFi attackers. Improperly written drivers can fail in spectacular ways. 2 researchers are planning on showing off the results of thier use of the tool ‘lorcon’ at Blackhat USA to sieve control of wireless hosts through this new technique. Via [news.zdnet.co.uk]… Continue Reading
Wi-Fi Drivers Open Laptops To Hackers
Wireless security just got a whole lot more complicated. Researchers from ISS, using freely available tools, have found that the drivers for some wireless devices are vulnerable to attack. Using lorcon, a wireless packet fuzzer, they were able to get wireless cars to fail in interesting and sometimes frightening ways. They are holding back details… Continue Reading
Locking The Wireless Network
Securing wireless networks in homes and small businesses is no longer a big problem today as the market is teeming with products and solutions to address this concern. One such product is Kaspersky Lab’s Internet Security 6.0, which includes an anti-hacker application and software that can scan wireless and wired networks and restrict access to… Continue Reading
China Abandons Encryption Talks
The delegation from China walked out from the opening session of the two-day meeting on wireless computing standard in the Czech Republic. The Asian nation is currently struggling to get global accreditation for its locally produced encryption technology called WAPI. The country accused the U.S. of employing unfair tactics to prevent WAPI from getting accredited.… Continue Reading
Rise In City Wireless Networks Raises Security Fears
Once again, RSA security took a wardrive through downtown London and found open access points belonging to businesses. This is the 5th year they have done this survey and the number of detected networks went from 1,751 to 2,747 with 26 percent wide open. Still not a very complete survey, but it certainly mirrors statistics… Continue Reading
Protecting The Wired From The Wireless
Identifying rogue accesspoints is not aneasy task. It is easier though when your orginization has a no-wireless policy. Network Chemistry has released a couple new products for rogue hunting. 2 fairly expensivehardware units, but also an opensource tool that analyses the wired network hosts, looking for access points. A fairly useful tool for the wireless… Continue Reading
Learn To Do A Wireless LAN Site Survey
George Ou covers how to do a WLAN site survey with a number of tools, including Netstumbler and Airmagnet survey. He also covers the proper usage and importance of a spectrum analyzer to a proper WLAN survey. In the end you get what you pay for. The commercial software is easy to use and has… Continue Reading
Does Wi-Fi Security Matter?
A study by researchers at Indiana University found that nearly half of Wi-Fi networks are “horribly insecure” as they do not run any form of encryption. The results of the survey, which involved 2,500 access points in Indiana, were disclosed at the Workshop on the Economics of Information Security at the University of Cambridge early… Continue Reading