Conference Attendees Drop Ball on Wi-Fi Security
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More than half of the wireless LAN devices being used at this week's RSA Conference on information security are themselves unsecured.
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But are they a niche device for business travelers or a bombshell set to rattle the wireless industry?
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Wireless networks giving computer users  Internet access from anywhere in the home could expose them to  eavesdropping and programmers should make their security  software easier to use, researchers say.
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As more travelers carry BlackBerrys and hotels install Wi-Fi, the traditional business center is becoming obsolete.
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Here's a problem that some investment dollars help solve. Apparently, the TechCrunch 40 conference isn't streaming to the outside world because the Palace Hotel has incredibly lame networking, and they won't allow conference promoters to bring in more wires? This is what I hear, although it's not confirmed. Emails to the conference promoters yesterday were not responded to.  I've also received emails from a number of companies announcing products at the show who want coverage on Scripting News, so my interest is not entirely idle.  So what does it take to establish one hotel in SF as the default tech conference hotel? Networking! Geez, you'd think it's obvious by now. We do things that require networks. Look in any conference room around the world for a clue. And supposedly San Francisco is the central node in the network of technology bringing all this great stuff to the rest of the world. So where is the hotel that gives us the very most basic technology to wire up conferences so that the whole world can participate?  Do we need to move the tech industry to another city? Someone please ask the Mayor or Google or someone in charge when they're going to fix this problem. It should have been solved in 1997, and it's already 2007.  BTW, here's a clue: there are some great business opportunities, beyond conferences, for the first physical location in downtown SF to solve this problem. Just ask Loic.
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Security researchers at South Korea's first international hacker conference rip holes in Linux and VOIP. But where are the drinking games? Quinn Norton reports from Seoul.
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SAN DIEGO -- Here at the DemoMobile 2004 conference, about 40 vendors had six minutes each to demonstrate their wireless technology invention to the crowd. Some products, although amazing in description, don't translate very well on the live screen and in such a tight time constraint. Some demonstrations, however, entirely captivate the audience and leave in their wake an audible buzz of excited voices.
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Cities and towns are jumping on the Wi-Fi bandwagon. But a municipal model of connectivity may be tricky to pull off.
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Frontline internet-crime fighters from security companies, law enforcement agencies, banks and e-commerce sites huddle at a secretive conference to confer on new tactics to fight cybercrime. Participants field lots of strategies, but no one can quite agree on what do.
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Servers, e-mail applications and other less-than-chic combinations of hardware and software typically inhabit the technology realm. Linen is rarely equated with LEDs, while discussing couture along with the 802.11 Wi-Fi standard is almost laughable.
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A new security threat to wireless hotspot users has been reported by UK researchers, who note that malicious hackers could use the vulnerability to obtain personal and financial information from unwitting Web surfers.
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For all Wi-Fi has done to bring people online, it's also opened them up to potential risk.
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(InfoWorld) - On Wednesday, presenters at RFID World in Boston focused on using second-generation active and passive RFID tags to provide advanced security and authentication, as well as ways to broaden the reach of the technology. Among the buzz from attendees was how the average wireless device could soon become an RFID reader, or perhaps a related radio-capable device for Near Field Communication, a short-distance radio technology to give a mobile user easy access to all kinds of data. One attendee, Russ Lamer, said he was just starting early investigation into ways that fleet truck drivers could equip their standard cell phones to act as a kind of "speed pass" to quickly pay for fuel at a truck stop, similar to the Speedpass used at Mobil gas stations. Lamer, manager of emerging technologies at Wright Express in South Portland, Maine, said drivers might also have fuel discount coupons delivered wirelessly to their phones that could be used during fuel purchases. With some of the mobile payment technologies he is investigating, Lamer said the modern trucker may eventually be able to pay by authorizing a credit card via the cell phone. "It makes the most sense" for the cell phone to work as the RFID reader, Lamer said, adding that he is interested in finding which chips could be used to provide the functions and at what cost. Other attendees said they were dazzled by an MIT presentation last night that showed emerging technologies similar to RFID that would allow someone with diabetes to read his or her blood sugar level easily several times a day with a cell phone receiving data from a patch on the arm. Steven Georgevitch, senior manager of supply chain technology at Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems, said in an address that all the emerging wireless technologies are exciting, but warned IT managers to plan ways to prevent RF interference, especially in large companies with many wireless applications. At Boeing, there are 150,000 employees in 70 countries, and a variety of wireless technologies are used, including active and passive RFID, GPS, and two variations of wireless location services. Badges worn by employees also use proximity radio technology, in which an employee is identified by passing close to an RFID reader at entrances to buildings, Georgevitch said. With so much variety in unlicensed spectrum, Boeing has tried to manage possible RF interference with an internal organization called the Frequency Management Organization. The group studies a proposed wireless use from an employee group, conducts technical tests on it, and then approves or rejects the project, Georgevitch said. Boeing's chief technology officer also has veto rights over which projects can move forward. "RF should be treated as a scarce resource," Georgevitch advised IT managers in other organizations. "Everybody wants to use RF or plug into Bluetooth or 802.11. Collisions are inevitable."
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The Wi-Fi Alliance yesterday warned wireless gear makers not to jump the gun on marketing 802.11n features before the standard is ratified.
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Tech managers fear businesses are more vulnerable to malware because of wireless devices used by workers
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But 'Gi-Fi' pointless without robust security
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A new battle of technologies may be in the offing in the 802.11n arena as 12 key companies have developed a key proposal to counter another one announced last week that is backed by a group of top wireless players.