Klarinet Archive - Posting 000112.txt from 2005/07

From: Gavan Fantom <gavan@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: Identity Theft
Date: Thu, 07 Jul 2005 20:55:47 -0400

Woodwind wrote:
>
> Most of the routers that include wireless also give you an option of some
> sort to turn it off, so don't let that disturb you too much. Alternatively,
> you can restrict access to the wireless network to specific computers, and
> you can set a WEP key that the user must know to access the network (think
> of it as a password that uses the characters 0-9 and A-F). If you do both,
> you aren't perfectly safe, but you've made it much more difficult to get
> into your network - the bad person would have to 1) Spoof the MAC address of
> a computer on the network that has access and 2) crack the WEP key.

1) Spoofing the MAC address of a computer on the network that has access
is easy. You just wait for one legitimate packet to be sent, sniff it,
and use that MAC address. Takes all of a few seconds.

2) Cracking the WEP key is possible with readily available free software
in an average time of five to ten minutes.

I would strongly urge anyone relying on wireless security to use the
more secure WPA standard. It's newer and so less widely supported, but
every new router I've seen supports it.

> Amen! While a determined person could possibly hack into your Wi-Fi network
> even when you've locked it down, the reality is if you do a reasonable
> amount of due diligence with regard to securing it, most won't bother. Why?
> Because half-a-dozen other wireless networks in your neighborhood probably
> aren't locked down, or not locked down well enough. Unless the bad person
> specifically wants something from YOUR computers, he'll go try the unsecured
> network half a block away.

That argument only works if your neighbours have unsecured networks.

As more people realise that their networks are unsecured, more people
will use WEP. I strongly urge anybody considering using WEP not to
believe that it gives them any more security than a sign on their front
door saying "Please don't come in".

Use WPA.

And then get back to rehearsing, abusing Sibelius or whatever your
regular scheduled activity is. :)

--
Gilette - the best a man can forget

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