Re: [nycwireless] "Security Breaches, Congestion Found At Trade Show WLAN"

[nycwireless]

On Mon, Jun 28, 2004 at 11:15:58PM +0900, Anthony Townsend wrote:
>  However, AirDefense did not say whether those breaches were caused by  
> demonstrations of wireless security products, as has been the case at  
> previous trade shows with public WLANs. The company has monitored the  
> public WLAN airwaves at a number of recent trade shows and has  
> repeatedly found a variety of security breaches.

Well duh ...

Id really assume that if I were attending a WLAN conference that there would 
be demos of the stuff id be buying before I decided on something.  The 
article is a ploy to sell more AD sensors (a rather expensive solution).  

I was going to demo hijacking @ the meeting but figured it would do more harm 
than good (however on the contrary awareness is #1 key to prevention).  

- Jon

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[nycwireless] "Security Breaches, Congestion Found At Trade Show WLAN"

[Anthony Townsend]

is the beginning of the end for unlicensed?
-
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/cmp/20040625/tc_cmp/ 
22101829

Mobile Pipeline News
 Attendees of this week's Supercomm trade show in Chicago faced a  
variety of wireless LAN security breaches, according to a firm that  
specializes in wireless security.

 The show also was notable for the large number of "soft access points"  
installed on the laptops of attendees. That latter problem isn't always  
a a security concern, but it can wreak havoc to users, according to an  
executive of AirDefense.

 "People are taking control of their connectivity by purchasing  
software that turns their laptops into functioning access points," said  
Richard Rushing, chief security officer of AirDefense, said in a  
statement. "Consequently they are creating additional confusion and  
interference on the already congested network."

 AirDefense was monitoring the airwaves at the show in conjunction with  
IBM, which installed the public WLAN. At times the congestion was  
serious -- at one point it found 117 users trying to access a single  
hotspot at one time.

 Because of that congestion, many people wound up inadvertently  
connecting to soft APs, which means lost connections and, potentially,  
security problems.

 Overall, AirDefense found that only 10 percent secured their  
connection using a virtual private network. It also monitored a number  
of specific potential security breaches, including 50 devices scanning  
the ntwork and 40 devices using spoofed MAC addresses. It also found  
eight hotspot hijacking sessions.

 However, AirDefense did not say whether those breaches were caused by  
demonstrations of wireless security products, as has been the case at  
previous trade shows with public WLANs. The company has monitored the  
public WLAN airwaves at a number of recent trade shows and has  
repeatedly found a variety of security breaches.

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