Hacking a wireless card

[iago]

Didn't I once say how cool this would be?

Can't wait to read their paper.

Via InfoWorld.

[snip]

Security researchers have found a way to seize control of a laptop
computer by manipulating buggy code in the system's wireless device driver.

The hack will be demonstrated at the upcoming Black Hat USA 2006
conference during a presentation by David Maynor, a research engineer
with Internet Security Systems and Jon Ellch, a student at the U.S.
Naval postgraduate school in Monterey, California.

The two researchers used an open-source 802.11 hacking tool called
LORCON (Lots of Radion Connectivity) to throw an extremely large number
of wireless packets at different wireless cards. Hackers use this
technique, called fuzzing, to see if they can cause programs to fail,
or perhaps even run unauthorized software when they are bombarded with
unexpected data.

Using tools like LORCON, Maynor and Ellch were able to discover many
examples of wireless device driver flaws, including one that allowed
them to take over a laptop by exploiting a bug in an 802.11 wireless
driver. They also examined other networking technologies including
Bluetooth, Ev-Do (EVolution-Data Only), and HSDPA (High Speed Downlink
Packet Access).

[snip]

More:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/06/21/79536_HNwifibreach_1.html

- ferg


--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg@netzero.net or fergdawg@sbcglobal.net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/


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[Hdx]

mm That is pretty cool, I figured it would happen someday tho.
Best I could get was realtime-captureing/displaying at my school, tho I didn't try much
~-~(HDX)~-~

[Quik]

Is this all the information you have? Is it the ability to compromise a laptop with nothing more than a wireless card available for connection?

Hrm, somewhat scary.

[deadly7]

That's pretty awesome.  I'd want to see it at the Black Hat convention and learn howt o do it and scare the hell out of my brother.

[Quik]

That's pretty awesome.  I'd want to see it at the Black Hat convention and learn howt o do it and scare the hell out of my brother.

Try visiting DefCon in Las Vegas if you want to learn some tricks. That's not really the point of the confrences though, most people look down upon that kinda attitude. =/

[iago]

Well, according to the article details on the exploitation method will be presented at Black Hat, which is why it's relevant in this thread. 

The point of cons is to showcase new technologies and new techniques, which very frequently involves hacking demonstrations.  That's the reason why a lot of people look up to them, too. 

[deadly7]

Yeah, I can't really visit any of those conventions until I have a source of income (read: not my parents).  It'd be fun to go though.  Anybody ever been?

[Quik]

Well, according to the article details on the exploitation method will be presented at Black Hat, which is why it's relevant in this thread. 

The point of cons is to showcase new technologies and new techniques, which very frequently involves hacking demonstrations.  That's the reason why a lot of people look up to them, too. 

I read that, just wondering if there was any more information other than this article.

I understand about presenting the information at the cons, I just don't think deadly going to them just so he can maliciously attack his brother and possibly others is such a great idea.

[deadly7]

I wouldn't call it malicious.  It's just he's so uptight about everything.  I wouldn't actually use it to damage someone's computer/laptop or do anything bad.  What's life if you can't have a little fun?

[iago]

Hacking is something very serious, and I wouldn't take it lightly.  If something goes wrong (which is always possible), you can do a lot of damage.  Additionally, you're violating his trust, in a way.  You like reading, so you should check out the book "Rights and Responsibilities of Partipants in Networked Communities" by the Compuer Science and Telecommunications Board National Research Council (no specific author).  I've never actually read it, or even flipped through it, but it's on my bookshelf and sounds like it applies

[Quik]

Also, unless you are very familiar with all of the code involved in the hack, there is a possibility that it will do something you didn't expect. There could be malicious code from the writer there that you would execute on your brother's computer without you knowing. This is just one reason why your idea is not as great as it seems to you.

Also, what makes you think showing it in action in front of an audience and possibily an explaination of how it works would allow you to do it? There's a difference between writing code for your specific target and double-clicking an executable file.

[deadly7]

Also, unless you are very familiar with all of the code involved in the hack, there is a possibility that it will do something you didn't expect. There could be malicious code from the writer there that you would execute on your brother's computer without you knowing. This is just one reason why your idea is not as great as it seems to you.

Which is why I'd learn the language it's written in (or at least the portions of the language that pertain to whatever script/whatever the thing is written into) if I don't already know it and then review the script.

Also, what makes you think showing it in action in front of an audience and possibily an explaination of how it works would allow you to do it? There's a difference between writing code for your specific target and double-clicking an executable file.

Listen closely + write notes, and of course knowing programming.
There are other ways to do what I'm proposing (VNC for one) but none of them would require actually learning stuff.  And anyways, hacking/figuring out how to do it would help in security I'm sure.  You can't defend against something you don't understand at all.

Hacking is something very serious, and I wouldn't take it lightly.  If something goes wrong (which is always possible), you can do a lot of damage.  Additionally, you're violating his trust, in a way.  You like reading, so you should check out the book "Rights and Responsibilities of Partipants in Networked Communities" by the Compuer Science and Telecommunications Board National Research Council (no specific author).  I've never actually read it, or even flipped through it, but it's on my bookshelf and sounds like it applies

Haha.  I think you should read it first to see if it applies.

[iago]

Hacking is something very serious, and I wouldn't take it lightly.  If something goes wrong (which is always possible), you can do a lot of damage.  Additionally, you're violating his trust, in a way.  You like reading, so you should check out the book "Rights and Responsibilities of Partipants in Networked Communities" by the Compuer Science and Telecommunications Board National Research Council (no specific author).  I've never actually read it, or even flipped through it, but it's on my bookshelf and sounds like it applies

Haha.  I think you should read it first to see if it applies.

I refuse to read a book written by a council

[deadly7]

Then why buy it?

[iago]

I didn't.