Public Access 'Blackspots'

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."

Comments

Re:What blackspots ?

[Anonymous Coward]

The answer is quite simple actually. If the phone could support a protocol with a cheaper infrastructure, then implementing the protocol might not be a bad idea. Say for example that you have an A band PCS network (1850->1945 MHz). The network has great outdoor coverage, but the in-building penetration at PCS frequencies is weak. A large buisness customer wants better coverage inside their offce, but doesn't want to foot the bill for a new $70,000+ base station, never mind trying to get FCC/FAA approval or a lease. Instead, using the network infrastructure that already exists inside the building you add 802.11 access points in places where coverage is weak. Voila, you've managed to solve the problem for probably less that $5,000. There are of course problems with smooth handovers between the 802.11 part of the network and the GSM part of the network, but that's a whole other kettle of fish.