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AirMagnet Wi-Fi Security Tool Takes Aim At Drones
alphadogg (971356) writes "In its quest to help enterprises seek out and neutralize all threats to their Wi-Fi networks, AirMagnet is now looking to the skies. In a free software update to its AirMagnet Enterprise product last week, the Wi-Fi security division of Fluke Networks added code specifically crafted to detect the Parrot AR Drone, a popular unmanned aerial vehicle that costs a few hundred dollars and can be controlled using a smartphone or tablet. Drones themselves don't pose any special threat to Wi-Fi networks, and AirMagnet isn't issuing air pistols to its customers to shoot them down. The reason the craft are dangerous is that they can be modified to act as rogue access points and sent into range of a victim's wireless network, potentially breaking into a network to steal data."
Instead of fixing a vulnerability or weakness in wifi, lets prevent drones from flying nearby. Because you can totally trust ALL your employees not to plug in a router to perform a similar attack.
x86, oh yes, I'm pro.
Wait! The old technology is attached to an autonomous quadrotor. Guess I'd better panic.
This is the dumbest thing I have ever read, and I have read some dumb stuff. Slashdot FAIL.
A lot of effort to stop a threat I've not heard of anyone doing. How is this easier and more stealthy then someone in a car with a wireless cracker?
The number one source of data breaches/theft is from employees. Are they suggesting employees are going to do something so elaborate/expensive/unreliable? Wow am I confused.
Would probably make a good TV show though.
Probably where they are getting their threat analysis from.
You'd just use a different model of AP. I'd be more worried about a drone sniffing my WiFi anyway.
Broad spectrum, high power RF jammers. A bonus if it also takes out cell networks.
Lovely plumage though.
Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!
Vote for Bernie in 2016!
It's a receiver to detect the EM signature from the onboard electronics of a Prius.
See, I've heard that it's possible for a Prius driver to run over kids who are playing in the street. So I've designed this receiver that fits into a kiddy backpack, and sounds an alarm when there's a Prius nearby. That way, when my kids are playing in the street and a Prius approaches, they'll hear the alarm. I guess then they can get out of the street, but what I'm really looking for is a way to ban Priuses from driving on my street. After all, I'm a responsible parent who's keenly aware of the dangers Priuses pose to kids who play in the street.
These are the voyages of the drone fighter AirMagnet. Its continuing mission to explore strange new wardrivers, to seek out new threats and neutralize them -- to boldly do which no one had needed before.
I have an AR Drone 2, and the standard battery lasts for maximum 12 minutes (1000 mAh). I've ordered a new battery that holds 1500 mAh. Looking forward to see if it lasts for 18 minutes.
How much damage can one do with that? Seems easier to sneak up close and hide in a bush while cracking in to someones network using a laptop.
Don't all wifi management tools do rogue ap detection - I rember playing with the cisco one and that has some neat ICE tech in it
The reason the craft are dangerous is that they can be modified to act as rogue access points and sent into range of a victim's wireless network, potentially breaking into a network to steal data
They'll probably buy about a million of these.
Did anyone else click on this story hoping to see some sort of magnet dart gun or EMP gun used for disabling drones?
Love the blanket statement that "no current UAVs are safe enough to fly in populated areas", things like this must absolutely terrify you: http://www.poweruptoys.com/ BTW, stay off the streets, where real danger exists.
I want to see a security tool which hijacks the drone control connection, lands it on my roof, and shuts it down so it won't leave.
I can't quite decide if the followup should be "call the police", "hold drone ransom" or "just keep it", but I'm sure I'd think of something.
Log in or piss off.
but if you wanted to take down a drone maybe a GPS noise source with a directional antenna pointed at the little bird would have interesting results.
Wouldn't this mean that the person controlling the drone would have to be on the wifi system already?
It isn't just going to stay there without any control. On my parrot, the drone will ease on down if it loses contact with the controller. Kind of keeps it from flying on til hte batteries drop if you lose contact. So it would need multiple wifi's. Oh, and then it wouldn't be recognizable as a parrot drone. And....
Even if you could rig it to attack another wifi, it would have to have that second wireless adapter, and you'd need a second computer to do the hacking, and you'd need to get all this done in the precious few minutes of flight time. And the flight time would be even less because of the second wifi weight and battery drain. And....
Oh, and you'd need to be standing right outside the place you were hacking into. The wireless range of these things is really short. And...
This is FUD, plain and simple. Tring to break into a wireless system with a parrot would be like driving from Philadelphia to New Jersey by way of Australia, with stops in Anarctica, and the moon beforehand.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
It's possible to connect a controller to an antenna that vastly extends its range. Is your property extensive enough to give you a 2-kilometer perimeter around your house?
This is going to need to be a very fast attack since the battery on the quadcopter only lasts around 5-10 min.
"a popular unmanned aerial vehicle that costs a few hundred dollars"
And it unmanned. It needed to be said?
Most toys are.
Shotguns work wonders.
Issuing air pistols? You can't hit a drone with a pistol. No you need to arm the site security with full chock, 12 gauge, shot guns.
That way every knows when a drone is near by. The window explodes when security shots the drone hovering next to it. It also helps cut down on the population of 'window sitters'