santiago fonseca

I can see you standing at the corporate HQ giving the briefing of your life and someone sends a command to your brain "I feel diarrhea coming"... so sorry floks.. gotta go..

AC_S5

I can see you standing at the corporate HQ giving the briefing of your life and someone sends a command to your brain "I feel diarrhea coming"... so sorry floks.. gotta go..
[/quote]

you got it man

das

Wireless, including Bluetooth and 802.11, doesn't have to be insecure. Or, more specifically, the data traveling over them doesn't have to be insecure. Perfectly secure communications can occur with encryption. People get all hung up on things like "omg, if my phone/car/whatever has Bluetooth, that means somebody can hack into it!!!" No. If the vendor has a really, really poor implementation, maybe. But it's all about the end-to-end security of the application, not the protocol. Bluetooth and 802.11 can be totally open, but as long as the data going over the channel is secure, as long as there is authentication and authorization that happens end-to-end, then it's not a problem. With 802.11, we have that level of control as an end user. With Bluetooth, we don't quite yet. There are also some steps the users can take. E.g., with Bluetooth, things like not leaving your devices discoverable, and that sort of thing.

Unfortunately, some manufacturers' implementations have left, er, something to be desired. Like any technology, it must be implemented properly. But it's not a foregone conclusion that just because something has Bluetooth automatically means it's hackable. And for instances like banks, etc., not using wireless technologies, it's not because they're "insecure", it's because the CAN be insecure, and instead of devoting resources to ensuring wireless security, they do things like ban all use of 802.11 and Bluetooth in the corporate setting. It's no indication about whether or not those technologies can be used securely; they can be. It's about limiting your exposure and allocating resources, so don't read anything into that, either...

For some basic background on the current security concerns surrounding Bluetooth, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetoo...urity_concerns

For 802.11, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiFi#Security
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.11#Security

santiago fonseca

DAS, you are speaking as if you have a bucket of technology knowledge on the subject and we all (I'm sure) appreciate your insight on this. You're are probably 100% correct in your assessment of the technology and in a perfect world, you'd be 100% correct on the security issue, but this is not a perfect world. Companies put out software and wireless access devices to "get them out there" before all the ramifications and security concerns are addressed. Look at Microsoft - they're still being hacked and they should know better than to put out stuff with holes in it. They (all vendors) just want to sell the stuff to make money and be the first to offer something, and people just got to have the latest gadget. If people knew the dangers, and like you, they knew the technolgy and perils, they'd look for the companies that have done their homework.

To quote you from above "Unfotunately, some manufacturers' implementations have left, er, something to be desired. Like any technology, it must be implemented properly." Right on brother, and probably 90% of the buying public will just buy new stuff just 'cause it's out there and that's the audience the hackers are looking for - it's - in military terminology - a target-rich environment.

Thanks for the links and the lesson.

Regards,

Santiago <_<

shiny

802.11B/G would be great in conjunction with an mp3 jukebox in the car - transfer your albums while the car sits on the drive!

Other applications could be neat - maybe get the car to email you if it's being tampered with, or browse the web from your i-drive