| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| New Device Allows Police To Analyze WiFi Signals To Identify Illegal Information |
| 2011-08-15 |
| The directional antennae on the device scans a building or home for WiFi connections. Aircheck can tell if a network is open or password-protected, then pinpoint the person who handled the suspected content. That way, police can confidently identify their suspects and make a quick arrest. Officers with the Martinez Police Department in California say Aircheck makes all the difference. "It provides us and additional layer of certainty that the person we are targeting is, in fact, the suspect that we are looking for," said Sgt. Dave Mathers. "We don't have to go in blindly anymore." Prior to Aircheck, police struggled when anonymous users piggy-backed on someone else's WiFi signal, making it hard to trace the crime. The device now gives investigators a way to sort through the variables, and hunt down the suspects. "Police have found that they are able to pick this tool up, and within minutes, they know how to use it, and they know how to use it effectively," said Mark Bauman of Fluke Networks. This device can also be used against unpopular crime #1, trendy crime #2 and even online annoying crime #3. Edited to remove 5 different references to "Child Pr0n", that were obviously added to distract from the basic fact that this is warrantless, probably random, police monitoring of private, short range communications channels, most of which are intended for use within a single building. And no mention as to whether this will only be legal for sale to police organizations. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #10 Couple the WPA2 encryption with a MAC filter on the AP. Only allow known MACs to attach. |
| Posted by: mojo 2011-08-15 21:12 |
| #9 You may not assume. However, your network is only as secure as the hacker thinks it is worth his time. Which for 99% of wireless users with the best security is a resounding "not worth it". Too much effort for not enough reward. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2011-08-15 20:21 |
| #8 May I assume that if I'm using WPA2 with a robust password that my home WiFi network is secure? I told a customer once that wireless networks are inherently insecure because the data packets being transmitted are over the airwaves, and anyone can grab them with the right equipment, and if they can grab your data, encrypted or not, they can crack it. I bet what this Aircheck product does is just that: grabs the data being transmitted, cracks the data headers just enough to grab the gateway outbound interface IP and the NIC code of the interface, and then attempts to guess the inside gateway IP. From there it's a simple scan to map out the network... |
| Posted by: badanov 2011-08-15 17:48 |
| #7 May I assume that if I'm using WPA2 with a robust password that my home WiFi network is secure? |
| Posted by: Steve White 2011-08-15 17:29 |
| #6 Another handy thins is M0nowall, Procopius2k. It's awesome! |
| Posted by: newc 2011-08-15 11:57 |
| #5 They probably spent millions for something I downloaded last year for free. It's called Backtrack. Also Cain and able - both do the same thing as aircheck. I had the ability to do this a year ago. Makes me wonder how far behind LEO is with this stuff. |
| Posted by: newc 2011-08-15 11:55 |
| #4 Looks like they can't even spell "aesthetic", moose... |
| Posted by: mojo 2011-08-15 11:48 |
| #3 After detecting others trying to access my home Wifi, I moved on to this system recommended by the Intaprof. It works for me and provides physical security against intrusion. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-08-15 11:36 |
| #1 Let me guess... Someone has come up with a bit of kit (probably expensive) that does the same job of finding a wi-fi users MAC address (as a small PC with a packet sniffer). |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2011-08-15 10:01 |