Neopwn, the World's First Pentesting Mobile Phone

thefanboy writes "What do you get when you cross BackTrack Linux apps with a mobile phone? This is the first ever publicly available mobile phone running a full custom Linux network auditing distribution, and it runs it surprisingly well. One can literally go from phone to pwn in 2 seconds. Based off of the Openmoko Neo Freerunner, many steps have been taken to compensate for the lack of a QWERTY keyboard with automation scripts, dialogs, and a point-and-pwn menu. It runs applications such as Metasploit and the Aircrack suite quite well, especially given the fact that it supports a wide array of USB WLAN cards."

Comments

I really hate the term 'pwn'

[ttlgDaveh]

'pwn' drives me nuts. In my eyes the use of it seriously undermines any project and gives the impression that it is presided over by annoying 13 years olds which, in turn, pretty much makes me dismiss it.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm glad someone else agrees with me

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[couchslug]

"'pwn' drives me nuts. In my eyes the use of it seriously undermines any project and gives the impression that it is presided over by annoying 13 years olds which, in turn, pretty much makes me dismiss it."

Even if it is accompanied by trendy, fresh terms like "Neo" ???

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[m50d]

Try and remember how you were when you were 13. I've noticed a strong tendency for annoying 13 year olds to write damn good code. They're idealistic, trying to prove themselves, and don't have anything better to do; dealing with a little language silliness is a small price to pay.

Seriously, I'd trust code written by 13 year olds a lot more than that written by major companies.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[dataninja]

I second the motion

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[cbreaker]

"Seriously, I'd trust code written by 13 year olds a lot more than that written by major companies."

Then you'd be stupid.

Sure, a young kid can write some novel little things, but serious software? No. It does in fact take teams of people do to that - in the OSS world or corporate world (or as often is the case, a mix of the two.)

Generally speaking, 13 year old boys don't do much on the Internet except beg for shit, yell at shit, and talk shit. Lots of shit is involved.

It's not limited to 13 year olds, but it sure is true for many 1st person shooter type games. I used to enjoy playing games like CS and stuff with my friend but we both eventually got tired of the little kiddies ruining every game.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Hal_Porter]

Yeah, the OP really got pwned.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[cbreaker]

Interestingly enough, the most commonly known uses of Neo began with things like Neo-Nazi and Neoconservatism (which was intended to be a criticism.)

I think using the word Neo for anything is annoying.
Just say NEW.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously, I'd trust code written by 13 year olds a lot more than that written by major companies.

I don't trust a 13 year old kid to wash my car, let alone do something like write software for me. Wait until they've gone to school and got a bit of experience doing actual work, and then we'll talk.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[thetoadwarrior]

I know. Any company that can't use the proper 0wn3d or cl0wn3d isn't getting my business.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[martinw89]

Uhhh, I don't know how everyone else was when they were 13, but when I was 13 I was watching cartoons and letting people think I was good at computers because I understood most of the settings on the computer. I didn't touch code until very late high school. If I did when I was 13 I think it would have been unmaintainable garbage.

I also frequently used the term "pwn" in my shitty online videogames.

Well actually, as a testament to my nerdiness, I thought it meant "pawn" first. As in, someone's so awesome they killed the other guy with a pawn. So upon kicking someone's ass in my dragon ball z game, I let everyone know I "pawned" him. It must have been quite a site.

Note to future employers: I am now a focused individual who is not anything like his 13 year old self.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[thetoadwarrior]

Neo is older than new and comes from the Greeks to mean new or young. So maybe you should be using neo rather than that neoterm new.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Cecil]

I wrote a (shitty) text adventure on the C64 when I was 8 or 9. By I was 13 I was probably hacking away in MOO code and Turbo Pascal. But yeah, I agree, the original post about trusting a 13-year-old's code is a bit ridiculous.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[jabithew]

Neologism, not neoterm. The word you were looking for already conveniently exists.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[mR.bRiGhTsId3]

It usually annoys me to, but I thought it a clever play on the word phone, and upon looking through their screenshots, it looks like it only appears once or twice.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[martinw89]

Unfortunately, being a sophmore in college, my first "real" computer was with Windows 95. We had one before then that was text only, but I used it so little I have no idea what it was.

Thank god for Tech TV telling me about Linux. If I hadn't had a system with which I could play around so much I wouldn't be a CS major now.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[martinw89]

Oops, thanks for pointing out the homonym.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Anonymous Coward]

Generally speaking, 13 year old boys don't do much on the Internet except beg for shit, yell at shit, and talk shit. Lots of shit is involved.

Ummm, no. You forgot the pr0n. Lots & lots of pr0n.

It's not limited to 13 year olds, but it sure is true for many 1st person shooter type games. I used to enjoy playing games like CS and stuff with my friend but we both eventually got tired of the little kiddies ruining every game.

Probably because you got pwned.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[m50d]

Sure, a young kid can write some novel little things, but serious software? No. It does in fact take teams of people do to that - in the OSS world or corporate world (or as often is the case, a mix of the two.)

No it doesn't. Any piece of software actually large enough to need a team (which is a far far smaller number than the number which are generally written by team) should be separated into smaller components. A single good coder beats a team - of any size - every time; I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a kid write a superior replacement for something that took a major corp. six months in one 36-hour shot.

Generally speaking, 13 year old boys don't do much on the Internet except beg for shit, yell at shit, and talk shit. Lots of shit is involved.

95% of everything is shit. Yes, a lot of 13 year olds are doing shit, but they aren't the ones who are writing and releasing code.

It's not limited to 13 year olds, but it sure is true for many 1st person shooter type games. I used to enjoy playing games like CS and stuff with my friend but we both eventually got tired of the little kiddies ruining every game.

You'd be surprised how many of those "kiddies" are actually in their 20s or worse.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Anonymous Coward]

PWNED!!!

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[atraintocry]

I think parent works for a marketing firm.

On a sad side note, 'ginormous' doesn't even trip my spell-check.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[atraintocry]

Homophone
:P

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[martinw89]

Oh man, I guess two day's not my day.

Wait... Shit!

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you 13 or do you have a love one who is 13? Mesothelioma... scratch that, eh you're a bad shill for child labor.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Anonymous Coward]

Lol....

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Hognoxious]

The word you were looking for already conveniently exists.

Coincidentally, so does "whoosh".

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[cbreaker]

Well yes, but they weren't use in common English. Not really..

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Anonymous Coward]

Words that sound like other words are called homophobes.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[MrMista_B]

You're old.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Anonymous Coward]

I have some code that I wrote when I was thirteen, and it's crap.
The best that might be said for it is that at least I knew how to separate code into functions. I thought rather highly of myself at the time, so it's worth keeping it around to keep me humble.
Learning to plan out sustainable architecture, how to arrange code readably, separating between 'good' and 'bad' cleverness, etc. takes time, and you really should try for someone with at least the maturity of postpubescence.
Maybe things are better these days, what with the internet and all the code examples and such that are available, but an inexperienced coder can't really tell the good examples from the bad ones, of which there are a ton more. From what I've seen I'd say; when you're trusting a 13 year old, you're trusting a PHP web developer.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[hobbit]

Nah. I was way better at coding when I was 15 than when I was 13 ;)

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[slashgrim]

neoconservatism is an oxymoron...think about it newstickwiththeold? It doesn't even make sense.

and if you disagree check out the history of the term: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoconservatism#Left-wing_past_of_neoconservatives

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[centuren]

The word "conservatism" is being used to mean "the principles and practices of political conservatives" in that context. A new variant of principles and practices by political conservatives is quite obviously a legitimate condition and neoconservatism describes it without confusion. "Newstickwiththeold" certainly doesn't make sense, both as a word and as a conceptual breakdown of the term neoconservative.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[extrasolar]

That's not nerdiness, that's called "stupidity".

He already said he was 13.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[TehZorroness]

Don't let them ruin your game. Ruin their's first. It's so much more fun!

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[m50d]

Are you 13 or do you have a love one who is 13?

No; well, there are 13-year-olds in my family, but that's neither here nor there.

scratch that, eh you're a bad shill for child labor.

Au contraire; I think the main reason they code so well is it's done out of love rather than for material gain - and there are no deadlines or project management in their way.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[PhasmatisApparatus]

The word "pwn" has been around for long enough that characterizing it as slang used exclusively by 13-year-olds is more than a little silly.

Also, with so few alternatives that have not been tainted by alternative meanings ("hack", anyone?), "pwn" is a legitimate word among hacker types.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Anonymous Coward]

A single good coder beats a team - of any size - every time...

Sooooo, are you suggesting that 13 year old coders are generally good coders?

Look, I agree. Using "pwn" would be pretty lame if Neo wasn't also in the name.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[John Whitley]

Just say NEW.

What, as in "newspeak"? I think not. Orwell put the kibosh on that quite firmly.

As for complaining about the use of the Greek "neo" as a prefix, that horse left the barn at least two hundred years ago. See "neologism", coined in 1803.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps it's technically possible to write code that works better than what was produced by a team of programmers after a much longer development time. But I would guess that such an occurrence would be rare and would probably depend on the situation.

But most importantly, it's not a reliable way of producing software, and when was the last time you met a 13-year old who knows how to comment his code? Not to mention version control and the like (but I'm not a software developer, so I've never had to worry too much about that). Anyways, if you say that a bunch of 13-year olds are already performing at that level, then I would say those are the rare exceptions who are acting a lot older than their age :P

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Anonymous Coward]

13-year-old kids, probably not, but maybe, say, 16-year-old kids, sure.

Wait, I am 16.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Anonymous Coward]

(posting anonymously because of personal details)

When I was 13 (way back in the early 60s) I built a lot of electronic equipment (analog circuits, digital wasn't 'invented' yet) that was used to win science fairs and just for fun hacking. Also a photo darkroom including the timers as well as much of the optical and lab equipment (when you have time and no money, its the only way to go)...

So yes, I'd trust a 13 year old to write good code.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[xouumalperxe]

Even if it is accompanied by trendy, fresh terms like "Neo" ???

I don't know about fresh, but the term is definitely new

.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Khomar]

I think the problem here is the definition of "good". While it might be inventive or very efficient, it will probably not be very readable or maintainable. Thirteen year old programmers aren't thinking about commenting, portability, planning for future changes, etc. Experience counts for an awful lot because you know how to avoid the pitfalls that will surprise the novice programmer. Version 1.0 will look great. But creating 2.0 could be a nightmare, and only the original coder will have a chance of pulling it off. A well organized and experienced programmer at a major company can produce code that can be maintained for years and handle many different scenarios. A software company is worried about the entire life-cycle of a product and has to be concerned with the usual programmer turnover.

A thirteen year old prodigy has a lot of potential, but without proper guidance and, most importantly, experience, they will not be able to compete with a solid, seasoned programmer long term.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it seriously DOES NOT take teams to write "serious" software. In fact, the teams you are talking about write the world's worst code. Buggy and bloated, uncommitted, passionless, bullshit fodder that is only good enough to convince idiot VPs that it saves them money.

Re:I really hate the term 'pwn'

[Anonymous Coward]

There's nothing more humiliating than being the victim of frequent headshots from a bloody kid barely tall enough to reach the bloody keyboard/mouse *if* he stood on the chair on his knees.
A kid that was barely more than a glint in the milkman's eye when the first Alpha of CS was launched on the net.

That was what done it for me and CS.

But...

[Anonymous Coward]

But can it run -- oh wait. Nevermind. Well then, imagine a Beowulf cluster of these suckers!

What in the world am I going to do

[iminplaya]

with a protesting mobile phone?

Re:What in the world am I going to do

[Anonymous Coward]

Riot?

0 to NSA blacklist in 6.3 seconds

[zappepcs]

Now, you might disagree with me, but I think this officially means that the NSA and other government agencies (I'm looking at you Alaska) need to work extra hard to ensure their networks are locked down good.

Point and click becomes point and own? Maybe not that easy, but All your AP are belong to us is going to happen soon enough. One thing that Linux and F/OSS definitely does do; puts real software and OS in the hands of those that the NSA would rather not need to worry about.

I see a rather large police state like effort coming.

Re:0 to NSA blacklist in 6.3 seconds

[ColdWetDog]

(I'm looking at you Alaska)

Actually, the IT infrastructure in the State of Alaska is reasonably good. What you are asking for is that Alaska politicians understand the difference between .ak.gov and yahoo.com. Not only that, you're asking for Alaska politicians to not circumvent that difference whenever they feel it's convenient.

Fat Chance. Remember, this is the state that created the Tubes. And that thinks boiled Moose noses are delicacies.

bad summary

[Anonymous Coward]

anyone else find the summary poorly worded and confusing?

GPL?

[Anonymous Coward]

Has had any luck downloading any of the source for this? Not seeing any GPL software links on their site, might have to shoot them an e-mail...

Re:GPL?

[cbreaker]

Don't do it! They'll pwn you!

Re:GPL?

[Anonymous Coward]

Contrary to popular belief, they don't need to provide the source code to the public if they wish to abide to the GPL, they only need to provide it to those they have provided with the software (or the phone, in this case).

Words!!?

[Lunatrik]

Good god, I generally consider myself on top of technology but this summary seems to be written in another language, and not just 1337sp33k....

Place your bets

[cmacb]

Will the reaction to such devices be to strengthen the security of our cellular networks, or to simply outlaw such devices?

Hmmmm, ponder, ponder, ponder.

My money is on the latter.

The ultimate geek toy

[David Gerard]

The anti-iPhone: the Linux telephone that operates entirely from the command line! The Ultimate One-Dimensional Desktop! What can't you do with a bash prompt?

(The v2 version will, of course, run Emacs and be programmed entirely in eLisp written on the fly.)

Re:The ultimate geek toy

[Bob The Cowboy]

Do you really need to link to your own Fake News blog in every post you make...? Your homepage already links to it, and your .sig already links to it. Seems a little excessive.

Re:The ultimate geek toy

[kwabbles]

The v2 version will, of course, run Emacs

So it has the 32gb flash memory then? Badass.

Re:The ultimate geek toy

[watice]

The anti-iPhone: the Linux telephone that operates entirely from the command line! The Ultimate One-Dimensional Desktop! What can't you do with a bash prompt?

(The v2 version will, of course, run Emacs and be programmed entirely in eLisp written on the fly.)

looks cool but waaaaaaay too expensive. I'll stick to my first gen iphone, a wifi signal, and metasploit and i'm just as happy.

Re:The ultimate geek toy

[Anonymous Coward]

You can already get a DOS Shell with a BASIC interpreter on a mobile:
http://www.whoredoeuvre.com/dros2.html

not so much use for the Pentesting though!

Re:The ultimate geek toy

[strjms72]

How else is he going to make google pr and stuff? :D

Re:Yet another Linux geek wetdream

[David Gerard]

Jamie Zawinski.

503 Service Unavailable.

[shadow42]

"The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later."

Evidently they can't save their own site from being pwned.

Re:503 Service Unavailable.

[Pvt_Ryan]

well tbh it is hard to protect againist a ddos from /.

They forgot..

[Pvt_Ryan]

the source code..

Can't see a link for it. Unless they are waiting until they start shipping to put it up..

or maybe its for customers only.

Slashdotted!

[supernova_hq]

Wow, not even a single post and already a 503...

boiled moose noses?

[Anonymous Coward]

apparently you haven't seen the recipe for "stink fish" yet. seriously. no joke. and yes, that's the real name (in english) of the dish.

bury a freshly caught fish in the ground for a few days. dig it up. eat it.

No phone

[Anonymous Coward]

Just get an eeeeeepc or something similar - it's cheaper and you can do real 'pwning' with that (has keyboard and screensize > 1'' or so).

GPL Violations

[galaad2]

in between a ton of 503 http replies (slashdotting in progress) i have managed to browse all those pages (F5 FTW!) and i have NOT seen a link to download the software itself or even the source code and not even a promise of future availability.

Since the Linux kernel is licensed under the GPL and they seem to provide a binary-only kernel for their customers (no source code that i saw) it seems we have here yet another clear cut GPL violation case.

On their page at http://www.neopwn.com/software.php i know that the following have GPL licenses and they must also provide the source code for but they don't do it:

Debian OS (Lenny / ARMEL) - packages are GPL mostly
Custom Kernel - (Linux 2.6.24) - GPL definitely
Open Source Penetration Testing Application Ports - again, mostly GPL stuff

Also on their site at http://www.neopwn.com/store.php the cheapest option is $80... with a SD card and dvd thrown in but again no source code download available...

so, what gives? Do they charge for source code too ?

Admittedly, the site is still under construction and the suite has not yet been formally released, so they still have time to correct the issues.

~~~~
just my 2 cents

Re:GPL Violations

[Anonymous Coward]

Read the GPL. It says nowhere they have to offer the source code for download for everyone (at least when they don't offer the binaries for everyone either).

Re:GPL Violations

[smoker2]

Since the Linux kernel is licensed under the GPL and they seem to provide a binary-only kernel for their customers (no source code that i saw) it seems we have here yet another clear cut GPL violation case.

Since they haven't distributed anything yet, that is libel. Not to mention they don't have to distribute source to everybody, just with the devices. And you don't know what's on the backup DVD.

Re:GPL Violations

[schon]

on their site the cheapest option is $80... with a SD card and dvd thrown in but again no source code download available...

It didn't occur to you that the source code of the GPl'ed components could be on the DVD or SD card?

What on earth makes you think that they have to provide downloads of their software?

Re:GPL Violations

[wild_berry]

Let's check I'm not misunderstanding you. They supply the software on DVD and SD card to people who purchse it. There's no need for downloads, you say.

What of the 'any third party' requirements of the GPL: that source code improvements on any GPL-licensed work must be conveyed to any third party who requests it? So they might send out DVD's, but I'd assume that it's cheaper to pay bandwidth on an online repository than to make up DVD images every time their repositories update.

Re:GPL Violations

[MechaStreisand]

That "any third party" requirement only kicks in if they DON'T supply the source code with the software. If they do supply it to anyone who gets the software, they're well within their rights to tell the original complainer to buy it or shut up.

Re:GPL Violations

[wild_berry]

I've just checked and you're right. Is that not a loophole in the spirit of the GPL: sell GPL'd software as the only place to get your particular improvements?

(But once it's escaped your clutches it's Free Software -- whether by US-style first-sale or EU-style exhaustion of rights -- and you can't stop someone to whom it has been conveyed from making it available for download. That's what CEntOS do for RHEL.)

Re:GPL Violations

[MechaStreisand]

I don't think it's really a loophole. I think it's more intended to be easy on people for whom the requirement to offer it to *anyone* for three years would be too much of a pain in the ass. After all, they would have to keep the last three years' worth of versions handy. Not that this is an insurmountable requirement: lots of people do it. But for a company who's not specializing in distributing anything over the web, it's probably easier just to send the source code with the binary code.

And as you said, anyone who gets it from that point can make it available to others. Kind of a shame when companies like Red Hat force people to remove all references to them from what is redistributed, though, and sounds borderline illegal as well. Statements of fact on the website that tell that the source was derived from Red Hat's Enterprise Linux shouldn't infringe trademark, I think.

what

[Bizzeh]

all that effort put into getting a story onto slashdot, and it doesnt even tell you what it actually does.

Re:what

[rundgren]

and it doesnt even tell you what it actually does.

Yes it does: "We have gone great lengths in making the NeoPwn user friendly when it comes to performing many of the necessary tasks in automating system controls and penetration tests." That means it does systems control and penetration testing. And of course it's a phone as well.

Debian! Gnome! It's got freakin' IceWeasel!

[operator_error]

OMG! This ain't no Poniez. Is the full-on Backtrack CD (just google backtrack for the link). Most users know it on either Live-CD or USB-stick boot-up form. I don't know of any manufacturers until now, that offer it pre-installed, tweaked, and (semi?) supported.

You think its news when Dell pre-loads Ubuntu on a laptop? In certain circles, this is *much* bigger news. It makes auditing one's own network a much more routine task, because this is a handy little wifi tool! Even *with* a live CD or USB stick, Good Luck acquiring or tweaking the wifi hardware to run the Backtrack distro well. This is a really compelling tool for people responsible for securing wifi networks. And its a PHONE too; that just happens to run Debian/Gnome. I want one BAD. All it needs is a bluetooth folding keyboard and its Golden; and I'm certain that's do-able. Oh, a thumb-scanner would be cool too. Schweeet!

Re:Yet another Linux geek wetdream

[Nursie]

lol.

My time is very valuable, but a large part of that is directly because of all the time I have invested in Linux.

Linux software development and administration is big business. Linux is not only free, it actually pays you!

"Pocket penetration"? "Pentesting"?

[Anonymous Coward]

Test all you want. No pen can penetrate my 3M pocket protector.

Might come in handy

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll try it out the next time I go "penetration testing" in "places where being promiscuous and undetected is essential."

It depends who you give it to

[EmbeddedJanitor]

It's OK for "Serious" people with the maturity to not abuse any holes they find. But putting a point-and-click level device in the hands of irresponsible people is in itself irresponsible.

Today, Emacs is quite lean

[mechsoph]

You forget, emacs once (jokingly) stood for "Eight Megs and Constantly Swapping." You know how much memory emacs uses today? Eight megs. Now find an app that does everything that emacs can in less than tens times that much memory.

Re:Today, Emacs is quite lean

[kwabbles]

You know how much memory emacs uses today? Eight megs. Now find an app that does everything that emacs can in less than tens times that much memory.

I think you mean the text manual for emacs takes up eight megs.

My openmoko already runs debian.

[miffo.swe]

Debian runs very well on my openmoko and its not that hard to use the commandline with rastermans keyboard. The screen has excellent resolution so reading the terminal works really well.

This device makes things dandy for people who want an easy way to test their network. Scriptkiddies will love them to but thats just fine. The script kids are the ones who forces better security trough. The alternative is to be hacked all day by corps and govts and never nowing about it.

Someone deface their website

[extrasolar]

It would be funny...if it was 1991.

And that really sucks

[extrasolar]

This will be the single biggest justification that Apple and other locked down mobile device vendors will use against projects like OpenMoko. I mean, do they really have to distribute metasploit with it?

I understand the thrill of walking around with conveniant access to script kiddie^W^Wpenetration testing tools wherever you go and are, really, I do. Business treats you bad? Take over^W^Wpwn their network. Girlfriend breaks up with you? Upload a picture of your penis as her background. Okay, so let me be honest, I never think like this. But that's all I can think of when I see these kinds of projects. The old geek fantasy of finally being able to get back at the jock (or whoever) because he has computer skills!

But, in the end, it's all fun and games until someone gets sued.

OMG SPOT THE PEDO

[Anonymous Coward]

You sure do have a thing for pubescent kids.

No monitor mode

[oddeirik]

or packet injection with the built-in wifi module:

"Note that the current firmware limitations of the internal wireless does not allow for monitor mode nor packet injection. An external USB WLAN is required for this type of operation."

I like how an external adapter can be an option, but as of now it's a requirement. This sort of ruins the image of this being "a powerful discreet network auditing tool for the penetration tester", atleast for me.
(They do mention that it's the current firmware limiting this, but there's nothing about if and when they'll "fix" this)

Seriously, though...

[Simon Brooke]

This looks like the quickest way to get open source phones banned off every network that you can imagine. So it looks like a big fat juicy own goal, to me.

umm what

[poot_rootbeer]

Neopwn ... Pentesting ... BackTrack ... pwn ... Openmoko Neo Freerunner ... Metasploit ... Aircrack

Can anyone point me in the direction of an article-to-English dictionary?

Re:umm what

[Danny Rathjens]

neopwn - the name of the project
pentesting - penetration testing is running scans to find security holes in a network
backtrack - backtrack is a linux distro that comes with all the tools to do so
pwn - slang corruption of "own" - another way of saying taking over a machine
openmoko - is a version of linux for running on mobile phones such as...
neo freerunner - is the name for the physical phone
metasploit - is a software tool for scanning/running exploits
aircrack - is a software tool for cracking wep keys and the like on wireless networks

not even close to the first

[mambosauce]

the article's title is so misleading. immunity's silica, although not cheap has been out for years. http://www.immunityinc.com/products-silica.shtml