billso.com

This article was originally posted on my blog at http://www.bloglines.com/blog/wsodeman?id=217

http://www.tomsnetworking.com/2005/03/31/the_feds_can_own_your_wlan_too/

FBI agents in Los Angeles recently demonstrated how they can hack into a wireless network in under 10 minutes.

This demonstration used publicly available tools to set up a fake wireless access point (WAP) and then harvest enough information from a Windows XP computer to crack or decode a WEP key.

About 30% of wireless access points use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) for encryption. Another 10% use a newer standard called Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), which requires more time and trouble to hack.

If you’re in the 60% of wireless network users who haven’t encrypted their access point at home, this article has some good tips for you.

Tech: Jay Echouafni is on the lam. He paid 5 people, including the netad of CIT/FooNet, to perform DDoS attacks against his competitors. CIT hosted TV retailing business. “This is an example of a growing trend: that is, denial of service attacks being used for either extortionate reasons, or to disable or impair the competition,” says FBI supervisory special agent Frank Harrill. “It’s a growing problem and one that we take very seriously, and one that we think has a very destructive impact and potential.” Thanks, Slashdot.

USA: AntiWar.com: An interesting interview with former FBI contract translator Sibel Edmonds, who claims the Federal government missed important clues before 9/11 because of incompetent, nepotist translators. “They used what we call the “hooking” procedure. When I first reported some of these translations failures and stalling tactics in December 2001 to my superiors, my mid-level manager said to me, “Now, Sibel, I understand you’ve been taking on a lot of coursework at your university. Why not take advantage of our workplace opportunities?” When I asked him what he meant, this boss suggested that I could “bring my school bag” to work on Saturdays and Sundays, and just study. No work. I wouldn’t even have to turn on my computer. He told me that I should then put myself down as having worked all those hours on the time sheet, so that, you know, I would be making something like $700 in a weekend – specifically for not working!”