[iwar] [fc:Firms.'leaving.back.door.open.to.hackers']

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-11-24 21:25:45


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Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2001 21:25:45 -0800 (PST)
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:Firms.'leaving.back.door.open.to.hackers']
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Firms 'leaving back door open to hackers' 
Richard Wray, The Guardian (UK), 11/16/2001 http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,7496,595662,00.html

Confidential information is leaking out of offices throughout London as
companies make use of new technology that enables computers to be
connected up to a network without the use of wires.  As well as opening
themselves up to hackers, major City firms could be in breach of data
protection rules if they allow personal data to be intercepted. 

Earlier this month a team of security experts, using a laptop and a
mobile device costing just £130, walked the streets of the capital to
try to pick up data being carried over wireless local area networks
(WLANS).  The technology allows computers and other devices within a
60-200 metre radius from a transmitter to be connected to a company's
network and is increasingly being used by firms with mobile workforces
and 'hot-desking' policies. 

However, the signal often spreads beyond the walls of the office and can
be picked up on the pavement outside.  With proper security in place the
information is secure, but the team discovered that two-thirds of the
124 WLANS located in and around the City and Canary Wharf, had no
security protection at all. 

Tim Pickard, the strategic marketing director at software security firm
RSA Security, which commissioned the survey from security consultants
Orthus, said major firms that have spent heavily to protect themselves
from internet hackers have left a back door open.  "This is very
worrying.  These are major organisations who are broadcasting personal
information, intellectual property and their corporate data," he said. 
The survey team discovered the largest concentration of WLANs in the
City, with just half of the 48 signals detected found to be protected. 

The least secure networks were found in Clerkenwell, the centre of
London's dot.com industry, where just three of the 18 signals discovered
were protected. 

RSA refused to name the companies leaking unsecure information,
stressing it had not examined any of the data captured. 

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