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Public Access 'Blackspots'

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the look-ma-no-wires dept.

WeakGeek writes "Unstrung has a story talking about a security issue with the combining of 802.11 and GSM/GPRS networks. Seems that 802.11b hotspots provide hackers with an easy way to grab user information from the wide-area network itself. Back when GSM was being defined, standards were designed to only authenticate the details held on the SIM card in a user's device before starting a session on the network. The user's device doesn't in turn check the credentials of the network. Fake a network, get data. Of course, the linked to story seems to be a 'viral' advertisement for a product that fixes this, but I still thought it interesting enough to share."

3 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. oh? by Joe+the+Lesser · · Score: 3, Funny

    'This all adds up to networks that could be vulnerable to hacker attacks, according to Schlumberger.'

    What an amazing conclusion. Networks are vulnerable. Thank you once again, Captain Obvious.

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  2. Vulnerable networks by knightinshiningarmor · · Score: 4, Funny

    from the article:

    This all adds up to networks that could be vulnerable to hacker attacks

    All networks are vulnerable, no matter how many precautions you take. Heck, just watch mission impossible again (if non-networked computers are vulnerable,...).

  3. A viral advertisement by Chester+K · · Score: 3, Funny

    Of course, the linked to story seems to be a 'viral' advertisement for a product that fixes this

    You guys need to fact check a bit. I didn't see anywhere that mentioned that the story was under the GPL.

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