Wireless

Computer code that could let an attacker hijack Windows PCs via a Wi-Fi connection was published on the Internet over the weekend.

The code exploits a security vulnerability in a driver from chipmaker Broadcom. The software is used to run wireless networking hardware in Microsoft Windows-based computers sold by Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Gateway, eMachines and others, according to advisories sent out by various security groups and companies. Potentially, millions of systems could be affected.

Wireless networks are forcing organizations to completely rethink how they secure their networks and devices to prevent attacks and misuse that expose critical assets and confidential data. By their very nature, wireless networks are difficult to roll out, secure and manage, even for the most savvy network administrators.

t?s critical to scan the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz airwaves across all 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi channels (both local and international ones) to detect ?rogue? devices in your Wi-Fi network. Among the situations you will likely want to quash:

* Unauthorised Wi-Fi access points (AP) connected to your network.
* Authorised Wi-Fi client devices mistakenly associating to an unauthorised AP.
* Unauthorised Wi-Fi clients connecting to your own authorised APs.

The Metasploit Project plans to add 802.11 (Wi-Fi) exploits to a new version of its point-and-click attack tool, a move that simplifies the way wireless drivers and devices are exploited. The controversial open-source project, created and maintained by HD Moore, of Austin, Texas, has added a new exploit class that allows modules to send raw 802.11 frames at one of the most vulnerable parts of the operating system.

FROM January, the information age will have another free conduit in Singapore, which allows wireless access to the Internet from almost anywhere on the island. All a person would need is a laptop or mobile phone that can detect Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), a technology that transmits data via radio signals.
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The high cost of Wi-Fi access in UK hotels has come in for some serious flack in the latest UK edition of The Good Hotel Guide.

The guide, which is edited and co-owned by former journalists Adam and Caroline Raphael, describes the prices currently charged for Wi-Fi access as " extortionate".

As income from fixed lines in hotel rooms has decreased in line with widespread mobile use, some hotels have replaced this lost income with "rip-off " Wi-Fi prices, according to the guide.

RENOVATIONS to Rockhampton Hospital's mental health ward presented a problem for nurses and an opportunity to assess whether radio frequency identification could improve security and safety.

Nurses had relied on a wall-mounted alarm system for support if they were in danger from patients in the ward.

However, the removal of some walls as part of a hospital upgrade left a big gap in staff safety.

Rockhampton Hospital mental health services executive director Chris Mummery says RFID security pendants were seen as a possible fix.

Enabling voice capability on a wireless network can provide significant benefits for enterprises, but analytical tools must be deployed to ensure the visibility of these voice calls. To this end, AirMagnet has recently launched its AirMagnet VoFi Analyzer, which provides automatic analysis of encrypted voice being carried over a WiFi network.

The next time you're sipping a latte and surfing the Net at your favorite neighborhood wireless caf?, someone just a few seats away could be breaking into your laptop and causing irreparable damage to your computer's operating system by secretly tapping into your network card's unique device driver, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in have concluded.

Chinese internet technology (IT) experts expressed fears about the security of local wireless networks after they were able to hack into them with ease during a symposium held in the Chinese capital of Beijing on Monday.

The "hackers" used tools downloaded from the internet to gain access to the network by securing passwords in barely five minutes. They said they did not encounter much trouble stealing secret data from users, accessing e-mails, deleting private documents and spreading viruses through the network.