Slashdot Mirror
Hot Sales In China For Wi-Fi Key-Cracking Kits
alphadogg writes "Dodgy salesmen in China are making money from long-known weaknesses in a Wi-Fi encryption standard, by selling network key-cracking kits for the average user. Wi-Fi USB adapters bundled with a Linux operating system, key-breaking software, and a detailed instruction book are being sold online and at China's bustling electronics bazaars. The kits, pitched as a way for users to surf the Web for free, have drawn enough buyers and attention that one Chinese auction site, Taobao.com, had to ban their sale last year. With one of the 'network-scrounging cards,' or 'ceng wang ka' in Chinese, a user with little technical knowledge can easily steal passwords to get online via Wi-Fi networks owned by other people. The kits are also cheap. A merchant in a Beijing bazaar sold one for 165 yuan ($24), a price that included setup help from a man at the other end of the sprawling, multistory building."
Free Wifi cracking kit: Download here and use with brain 1.0 and any USB wireless dongle.
By sniffing traffic to determine the existence of your network?
Video of cengwang ka in action here. Someone whose mandarin is better than mine will have to provide a translation. "Mee-ma" means password. Heck, I might get one just to use it in airports and other places where jerks charge for internet. Evidently they are illegal as taobao.com (the Chinese ebay) doesn't list them while a simple google search turns up dozens of vendors. I'll have to check on these next time I go to the computer market.
Another notable aspect of this story is that it's actually accurate. China is a blank slate to most Westerners and I have seen journalists fabricate the most outrageous lies simply because it "fits the narrative" (narrative=preconceived ideas). No surprise the guy who wrote this was in Beijing, it's like the world ends for journalists outside the fifth ring road.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
Commentator 1: And in the blue corner we have seasoned slashdotter and daisy-cutter h4rr4r. His opponent today is the unheard-of Rijnzael...
Commentator 2: Yeah, Bob - rumour has it that this Rijnzael dude is a cryptographer wannabe...
Commentator 1: Indeed! Round one is about to begin...
DING!
Commentator 1: We're off! Both contestants start jostling.
KABAM!!!
Commentator 1: Wow! h4rr4r has just run to the side of the ring and flattened a member of the crowd who started shouting out about something to do with hidden SSIDs. That was unexpected!!
THUD!!
Commentator 1: Ouch! And with h4rr4r's back turned, Rijnzael has snuck in from behind and layed a stiff elbow into the back of h4rr4r's head! He's reeling off something about the legitimacy of hidden SSIDs.
Commentator 2: It's all happening here, Bob. h4rr4r looks stunned... Rijnzael has bounced back to the middle of the ring - he almost looks surprised that he was able to land that blow. h4rr4r is turning around to face him...
BIFF!!! BOP!!!
Commentator 1: Thats gotta hurt! h4rr4r lays a couple of punches on Rijnzael!
Commentator 2: h4rr4r really likes that iwlist+luser combo doesn't he! Rijnzael stumbles backward. He's composing himself now...
DING DING DING!!
Commentator 1: Oooooh! And with that the round ends! Rijnzael looks upset, he was getting all fired up for his next attack! Look at the anger in that bloke's eyes will ya!
Commentator 2: Agreed. Rijnzael is itching to get back out there! h4rr4r is looking around the crowd... Ok, we're about to start round 2.
DING!
Commentator 1: And we're back into it. Rijnzael is bouncing like a kangaroo, he's pumped! Oh! He's moving in...
BAP!! PUNT!! THUD!!
Commentator 1: WOOOOOWW! What a combo! Rijnzael has hit h4rr4r squarely on the nose here! h4rr4r stumbles backwards and hits the ropes, arms splayed!
POW!!! KABIFF!!!
Commentator 2: Oh wow! "Fundamental Misunderstanding", "Belligerence", "Verifiable Incorrectness" - Rijnzael is throwing everything and the kitchen sink at h4rr4r!
KABLOOIE!
Commentator 1: An explosive hit! Rijnzael just landed a "slow adoption of Linux" blow on h4rr4r!
Commentator 2: My goodness, Bob! You don't do that to a seasoned slashdotter! h4rr4r has gritted his teeth now, boy he looks in pain! What a grimace!
*CROWD ROARING*
Commentator 2: Here we go! h4rr4r's senior, geekoid, has just jumped into the ring!! Talk about uneven now!
Commentator 1: Whats going on?! Looks like he got annoyed at the Linux reference! This is starting to look like a WWE match now!
BOP! POW! BAP! BIFF!!
**CARRIER LOST
I'd better get back to RL and start working.
'twas fun boys.
Aircrack is, curiously, one of the few tools that cannot be ported to windows, and which actually manages to attract people to run linux, just for this app. It's a "killer app", as they call it, which carries it's platform. Makes me think, sometimes, more open source software should be circulated without any windows ports or binaries at all, to keep people on open source platforms... of course, it goes against the whole idea of open...
While I cannot debate it's status as a "killer app", the reason it works is not that the code for Aircrack cannot be ported, but instead because Windows does not possess the underlying DLL's to support it. In fact, the fork project, Aircrack-ng, has a port for Windows, with a giant alt-text disclaimer on the download link that says it doesn't work without DLL's that they do not provide (i.e., they do not believe exist). The result is the same, but it's inaccurate to speak of it as an inability to translate the program "source".