Interesting People mailing list archives
more on Cybersecurity: they just don't get it...
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 19:16:40 -0700
Begin forwarded message: From: Ross Stapleton-Gray <amicus () well com> Date: July 26, 2004 5:06:32 PM PDT To: dave () farber net, johnmacsgroup () yahoogroups comCc: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>, Peter Neumann <neumann () csl sri com> Subject: [johnmacsgroup] Re: [IP] Cybersecurity: they just don't get it...
Reply-To: johnmacsgroup () yahoogroups com At 04:44 PM 7/26/2004, wes_morgan () US IBM COM wrote:
I now know that they're using 802.11b, and I know the name at least onesystem handling the webcam feeds, and (with a bit of reconaissance) I canprobably determine the position of at least one camera. So much for cybersecurity; I can't believe that the Feds even let thatstuff on the air, much less that they did so without obfuscating criticalinformation. *sigh* What were they thinking
I would guess that the single greatest impact of any of this would be in the public at large thinking, "Ah, they're using modern technology to monitor things at the convention... looks like they're prepared!" Giventhat this is so much more an era of perceptions than of reality, you could
chalk this (exposure of security systems on CNN) down as "doing their (primary) job."And there are a variety of other potential wrinkles. It could be that this was entirely scripted, and the intent is to dangle a tempting vulnerability
in hopes of attracting attention... that 802.11b network *is* exposed,*but* part of a honeynet; that one camera, and others looking like it, are
either dummies, or secondary to the *real* cameras, which are allhard-wired, and not looking all that much like the ones they highlighted on
CNN... I suspect, like the pre-selection of all the candidates rendering theactual purpose of a convention into that of an infomercial, that this layer
of physical security won't really matter all that much. I'd worry about other things, e.g., "smart target" hacking, where [pick your terrorist bogeyman] cons one or more of the protesting groups into becoming martyrs to the cause of socio-economic terrorism, and summons a"flash mob" of jubilant and radicalized techno-youth to convene on the spot
where they've previously deposited the explosives-laden backpack... Ross ----- Ross Stapleton-Gray, Ph.D., CISSP Stapleton-Gray & Associates, Inc. http://www.stapleton-gray.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/XgSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/johnmacsgroup/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: johnmacsgroup-unsubscribe () yahoogroups com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- more on Cybersecurity: they just don't get it... David Farber (Jul 26)