Does wireless internet connection make it harder for Feds to hastle me?

[weightshead]

brute forcing a WAN would be a very long and tedious process. HAHAHA my neighbor next door happens to have a linksys wireless, and i have my WAN, but i have 512bit wep, his isn't even encrypted. lemme tell ya i've had some serious fun with his comp. Especially since he has a net server running IIS, the MOST insecure software microsoft has ever created

this is precisely why people should at least use the highest WEP setting available to them, combined with proper MAC address filtering.

[max2extreme]

Just be patient though. If you dont have wireless and are thinking about it, I would wait. 802.11i is coming out soon. It uses what they call WPA, Wi-Fi Protected Access. Im not gonna get into it too deep, but WPA uses TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) which changes the way keys are derived and rotates keys more often. Also adds a message integrity check to prevent packet forgeries. It also uses RSN, Robust Security Network which uses dynamic negotiation and encryption algorithms between access points and mobile devices. What all this means: Its uses way better security measures than WEP and requires you to use AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), which provides enough security to meet FIPS 140-2 specification which is required by many govt agencies.

[builtthekid]

Umm **** Ive been working with computers all my life and I still dont know
what the hell he was tallking about.

[max2extreme]

Sorry, Im in the computer intrusion/security field...Ill explain a little...TKIP is the next generation of WEP. Currently lets say you send 1000 packets. The encryption is going to be only 24 bit. AND every packet of that 1000 packets is going to have the same 24 bit encryption key. 802.11i uses AES which is up to 256 bit encryption. Not only that, but instead of having 1 256 bit key for all 1000 packets, EVERY packet will have a different 256 bit key. Understand?

The message integrity check... lets say an attacker sends in false credentials to try gain access. Your computer sends back a msg "you dont have credentials" or what not..well the attacker can just write a 3 line perl code, attached to a packet send back and basically shuts down the system, giving him access. The MIC attaches a few bytes to each packet to make these packets tamper proof.

In a robust security network, ALL IOS communcations and data transfers are ALWAYS encrypted. Not just messages and files, but all upward and downward system requests, status replies, and meta data.

Hope this helps..sorry to talk above some people..

-max

[CarbonCopy]

Sorry, Im in the computer intrusion/security field...Ill explain a little...TKIP is the next generation of WEP. Currently lets say you send 1000 packets. The encryption is going to be only 24 bit. AND every packet of that 1000 packets is going to have the same 24 bit encryption key. 802.11i uses AES which is up to 256 bit encryption. Not only that, but instead of having 1 256 bit key for all 1000 packets, EVERY packet will have a different 256 bit key. Understand?

The message integrity check... lets say an attacker sends in false credentials to try gain access. Your computer sends back a msg "you dont have credentials" or what not..well the attacker can just write a 3 line perl code, attached to a packet send back and basically shuts down the system, giving him access. The MIC attaches a few bytes to each packet to make these packets tamper proof.

In a robust security network, ALL IOS communcations and data transfers are ALWAYS encrypted. Not just messages and files, but all upward and downward system requests, status replies, and meta data.

Hope this helps..sorry to talk above some people..

-max

Actually, WPA is a subset of 802.11i. And, I believe WPA will have backward compatibility with the older standards.

Peace,

CC

[max2extreme]

Yea you're right, 802.11i will be backward compatible with WPA, but the AES encryption option requires coprocessors that arent in most access points today.

Later,

-max