Re: Default Passwords for World Wide Packets/Lightning Edge Equipment

[Steven Bellovin <smb () cs columbia edu>]

On Jan 6, 2010, at 6:24 PM, Jeffrey I. Schiller wrote:

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> An option I saw years ago (I forgot on whose equipment) was a default
> password which was a function of the equipment's serial number. So you
> had to have the algorithm and you needed the serial number which was not
> related to the MAC. So if you didn't have physical access, you were not
> in a good position to learn the password.
>
> I suspect this was a support nightmare for the vendor and I bet they
> went to a more standard (read: the same) factory password.
>
> At the end of the day, minimizing support costs for the vendor (not to
> mention likely annoyance for the customer) trumps providing "default"
> security for the folks who won't change the default password.

The MyFi apparently does this.  According to http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/technology/personaltech/07pogue.html 
"The network password is printed right there on the bottom of the MiFi itself."

                --Steve Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb