Notebooks Vulnerable To Wireless Attack
Wireless device drivers for computers running both Apple Computer and Microsoft operating systems appear to be full of holes, and a prominent security researcher recommends turning off wireless cards until the holes can be fixed.
Last night, Intel and the SANS Internet Storm Center announced three Centrino vulnerabilities that can also be used to take over computers using Centrino-based wireless cards.
Introduced in 2003 by Intel, the Centrino package comprises the CPU chip, chipset, and wireless network module.
On Wednesday afternoon at the Black Hat computer security conference in Las Vegas, hackers Jon "Johnny Cache" Ellch and Dave Maynor plan to demonstrate how to take over any Apple MacBook if its wireless card is turned on, even if the owner is not connected to a wireless network.
In an e-mail to the SANS mailing list and government security researchers, SANS Institute director Alan Paller warns, "This is a big story for several reasons. First it shoots a pretty big hole in the 'bulletproof' image Apple is trying to project (notice the words Maynor used in the Krebs interview).
