Ensuring Security at HotSpots question

Hello all

I access the internet via a hotspot during my lunchbreak and wanted to
ensure that I am surfing securely. I have read various PC magazine
articles and here is what I have done SO FAR to ensure privacy

1. Sygate Firewall
2. File Sharing turned off, Plug/Play turned off
3. Surf thru HotSpotVPN, a Virtual Private Network, reviewed
positively in various journals
4. Virus software always on
5. AdAware and SpyBot run every few days
6. HOSTS file modified to be "anti spyware"

what is lacking?

I hear about war drivers and others "grabbing" my packets while I
surf. I think #3 above should fix that. Anything else? Can people
with NetStumbler find ME (via GPS) while I surf? I know they can find
the AP, how about the laptop user?

Dont want to be paranoid, but thats the reality these days.

thanks!

On 2 Nov 2004 20:57:42 -0800, Bill wrote:

> Hello all
>
> I access the internet via a hotspot during my lunchbreak and wanted to
> ensure that I am surfing securely. I have read various PC magazine
> articles and here is what I have done SO FAR to ensure privacy
>
> 1. Sygate Firewall
> 2. File Sharing turned off, Plug/Play turned off
> 3. Surf thru HotSpotVPN, a Virtual Private Network, reviewed
> positively in various journals
> 4. Virus software always on
> 5. AdAware and SpyBot run every few days
> 6. HOSTS file modified to be "anti spyware"
>
> what is lacking?
>
> I hear about war drivers and others "grabbing" my packets while I
> surf. I think #3 above should fix that. Anything else? Can people
> with NetStumbler find ME (via GPS) while I surf? I know they can find
> the AP, how about the laptop user?
>

If they can find the AP then they can find you. You have to be within a few
hundred feet and any wireless detector can identify your notebook in
operation.

> Dont want to be paranoid, but thats the reality these days.
>
> thanks!

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In <news:x3m7m8cs8ay9$.(E-Mail Removed)>,
Iceman <(E-Mail Removed)> roted:

> On 2 Nov 2004 20:57:42 -0800, Bill wrote:
>
>> Hello all
>>
>> I access the internet via a hotspot during my lunchbreak and
>> wanted to ensure that I am surfing securely. I have read various
>> PC magazine articles and here is what I have done SO FAR to ensure
>> privacy
>>
>> 1. Sygate Firewall
>> 2. File Sharing turned off, Plug/Play turned off
>> 3. Surf thru HotSpotVPN, a Virtual Private Network, reviewed
>> positively in various journals
>> 4. Virus software always on
>> 5. AdAware and SpyBot run every few days
>> 6. HOSTS file modified to be "anti spyware"
>>
>> what is lacking?
>>
>> I hear about war drivers and others "grabbing" my packets while I
>> surf. I think #3 above should fix that. Anything else? Can
>> people with NetStumbler find ME (via GPS) while I surf? I know
>> they can find the AP, how about the laptop user?
>>
>
> If they can find the AP then they can find you. You have to be
> within a few hundred feet and any wireless detector can identify
> your notebook in operation.

At which point they do AP spoofing... and... well, you know. ^_~

^reaper^

>> Dont want to be paranoid, but thats the reality these days.
>>
>> thanks!


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On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 22:14:48 -0800, ^reaper^ wrote:

> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> In <news:x3m7m8cs8ay9$.(E-Mail Removed)>,
> Iceman <(E-Mail Removed)> roted:
>
>> On 2 Nov 2004 20:57:42 -0800, Bill wrote:
>>
>>> Hello all
>>>
>>> I access the internet via a hotspot during my lunchbreak and
>>> wanted to ensure that I am surfing securely. I have read various
>>> PC magazine articles and here is what I have done SO FAR to ensure
>>> privacy
>>>
>>> 1. Sygate Firewall
>>> 2. File Sharing turned off, Plug/Play turned off
>>> 3. Surf thru HotSpotVPN, a Virtual Private Network, reviewed
>>> positively in various journals
>>> 4. Virus software always on
>>> 5. AdAware and SpyBot run every few days
>>> 6. HOSTS file modified to be "anti spyware"
>>>
>>> what is lacking?
>>>
>>> I hear about war drivers and others "grabbing" my packets while I
>>> surf. I think #3 above should fix that. Anything else? Can
>>> people with NetStumbler find ME (via GPS) while I surf? I know
>>> they can find the AP, how about the laptop user?
>>>
>>
>> If they can find the AP then they can find you. You have to be
>> within a few hundred feet and any wireless detector can identify
>> your notebook in operation.
>
> At which point they do AP spoofing... and... well, you know. ^_~
>

But he said they were using VPN.

Now if the feds were smart they'd shut down all wireless at airports. It
would piss a lot of peeps off, but.......

> ^reaper^

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In <news:(E-Mail Removed)>,
Iceman <(E-Mail Removed)> roted:

> On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 22:14:48 -0800, ^reaper^ wrote:
>
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> Hash: SHA1
>>
>> In <news:x3m7m8cs8ay9$.(E-Mail Removed)>,
>> Iceman <(E-Mail Removed)> roted:
>>
>>> On 2 Nov 2004 20:57:42 -0800, Bill wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hello all
>>>>
>>>> I access the internet via a hotspot during my lunchbreak and
>>>> wanted to ensure that I am surfing securely. I have read
>>>> various PC magazine articles and here is what I have done SO FAR
>>>> to ensure privacy
>>>>
>>>> 1. Sygate Firewall
>>>> 2. File Sharing turned off, Plug/Play turned off
>>>> 3. Surf thru HotSpotVPN, a Virtual Private Network, reviewed
>>>> positively in various journals
>>>> 4. Virus software always on
>>>> 5. AdAware and SpyBot run every few days
>>>> 6. HOSTS file modified to be "anti spyware"
>>>>
>>>> what is lacking?
>>>>
>>>> I hear about war drivers and others "grabbing" my packets while
>>>> I surf. I think #3 above should fix that. Anything else? Can
>>>> people with NetStumbler find ME (via GPS) while I surf? I know
>>>> they can find the AP, how about the laptop user?
>>>>
>>>
>>> If they can find the AP then they can find you. You have to be
>>> within a few hundred feet and any wireless detector can identify
>>> your notebook in operation.
>>
>> At which point they do AP spoofing... and... well, you know. ^_~
>>
>
> But he said they were using VPN.

Oops. Missed that. Doink on me! )

> Now if the feds were smart they'd shut down all wireless at
> airports. It would piss a lot of peeps off, but.......

True. Though one would think they'd shut down all wireless in their
guberment orfices first... which aren't using VPN btw.

^reaper^


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I use a VPN sniffer,
same deal.. i dont need to snif fthier packets.

a point about hotspots, look at all who are in the place whom have laptops.
then use netstumbler or other sniffers to check ap's and mac addresses. if
you have the correct amount, then keep an eye on new macs suddenly appearing
while no new users enter the visible hotspot.

things i do at hotspots. scan mace. thene check for file sharing and netbios
UPnP and other things

i love the $xx like the LPT port and admin $IPC locations also...

if at a hotspot, ensure your data is not secure.

dont get me wrong. you would be lucky if i tap your PC.

i only look for appz games pics on HD's thing people get in e-mail, and
save to the HD. like in my documents or other known folders. i also look for
MP3's

other people sniff for passwords and other information.

another note.

i have a nice supply of WIFI nics, and rotate them. makes it harder to get
caught.

my advice, want security, dont try and do secure connections at a public
hotspot.

i might be there, and i might bee leaching your cool files.

oh, and i do leave my calling card to anyone i access.

i leave a txt file explaining how i got in, and how to prevent it from
happening again. also i place a list of files i took there.

scary times we live in aint it.
"Iceman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 22:14:48 -0800, ^reaper^ wrote:
>
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > Hash: SHA1
> >
> > In <news:x3m7m8cs8ay9$.(E-Mail Removed)>,
> > Iceman <(E-Mail Removed)> roted:
> >
> >> On 2 Nov 2004 20:57:42 -0800, Bill wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hello all
> >>>
> >>> I access the internet via a hotspot during my lunchbreak and
> >>> wanted to ensure that I am surfing securely. I have read various
> >>> PC magazine articles and here is what I have done SO FAR to ensure
> >>> privacy
> >>>
> >>> 1. Sygate Firewall
> >>> 2. File Sharing turned off, Plug/Play turned off
> >>> 3. Surf thru HotSpotVPN, a Virtual Private Network, reviewed
> >>> positively in various journals
> >>> 4. Virus software always on
> >>> 5. AdAware and SpyBot run every few days
> >>> 6. HOSTS file modified to be "anti spyware"
> >>>
> >>> what is lacking?
> >>>
> >>> I hear about war drivers and others "grabbing" my packets while I
> >>> surf. I think #3 above should fix that. Anything else? Can
> >>> people with NetStumbler find ME (via GPS) while I surf? I know
> >>> they can find the AP, how about the laptop user?
> >>>
> >>
> >> If they can find the AP then they can find you. You have to be
> >> within a few hundred feet and any wireless detector can identify
> >> your notebook in operation.
> >
> > At which point they do AP spoofing... and... well, you know. ^_~
> >
>
> But he said they were using VPN.
>
> Now if the feds were smart they'd shut down all wireless at airports. It
> would piss a lot of peeps off, but.......
>
> > ^reaper^

In article <(E-Mail Removed)> William P.N. Smith wrote:
>
>Well, if you can trust HotSpotVPN, and your firewall is any good, then
>you are pretty much covered, aren't you? In the end, you aren't
>really connected _to_ the AP, but are tunneling _thru_ it, and there's
>nothing for The Bad Ones to see.

Perhaps you just wonder if I am pretty much covered. Why do you care?

--
Lady Chatterly

"A bot it may be, but somebody set it up in the first place. They
don't just wander around like viruses." -- Aetyr

(E-Mail Removed) (Bill) wrote:
>1. Sygate Firewall
>2. File Sharing turned off, Plug/Play turned off
>3. Surf thru HotSpotVPN, a Virtual Private Network, reviewed
>positively in various journals
>4. Virus software always on
>5. AdAware and SpyBot run every few days
>6. HOSTS file modified to be "anti spyware"

Well, if you can trust HotSpotVPN, and your firewall is any good, then
you are pretty much covered, aren't you? In the end, you aren't
really connected _to_ the AP, but are tunneling _thru_ it, and there's
nothing for The Bad Ones to see.

agent10029 wrote:

> I use a VPN sniffer,
> same deal.. i dont need to snif fthier packets.

It's a good thing we've got NSA/FBI field agents to troll iCafes with
their AES cracking man-in-the-middle script kiddie apps. Now that you've
blown Rijndael wide open (http://www.cryptosystem.net/aes/), what's the
next stunt you'll pull with your SGI Altix 3700 Bx2 laptop?

-Gary

On Wed, 03 Nov 2004 12:55:32 -0800, Gary <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>agent10029 wrote:
>
>> I use a VPN sniffer,
>> same deal.. i dont need to snif fthier packets.

>It's a good thing we've got NSA/FBI field agents to troll iCafes with
>their AES cracking man-in-the-middle script kiddie apps. Now that you've
>blown Rijndael wide open (http://www.cryptosystem.net/aes/), what's the
>next stunt you'll pull with your SGI Altix 3700 Bx2 laptop?
>-Gary

Bah-humbug. Ye software hackers are all the same. Always attacking a
system at its strongest point (firewall and encryption) while totally
ignoring blatantly vulnerable hardware points of access. Ask
competent burglar if they spend minutes tinkering with the latest high
security door lock, or if they prefer to just bypass the door and
proceed with the theft.

For example, most modernish laptops have exposed USB ports. No cover,
no protective interlocks, no authentication. On a Windoze laptop,
plug a USB storage device into the USB port. Plug-n-play will
automagically recognize it as valid device, add ATA drive emulation,
and run AUTORUN.INF with the permissions of the user. If they're
logged in as an administrator equivalent, then you have total control.

AUTORUN.INF runs a "root kit" like script that consists mostly of
registry changes and perhaps adds some spyware. I recently
demonstrated a rather simplistic version of this attack. About 30
seconds from start to cleanup on the initial run, most of which was
plug-n-play doing its thing. About 10 seconds after that. Yeah, it
leaves evidence of entry behind but most people wouldn't notice.
While agent10029 is passing his captured VPN session to his trojaned
collection of online grid computers for a parallel attack on the key,
I've got what I want with a $15 USB dongle in 30 seconds.

The same approach can be done via firewire, with a floppy disk (much
slower), via CF card in a PCMCIA slot (very fast), via the ethernet
port (much more complex), or via Bluetooth (I haven't tried that yet).

So far, my only real problem is that I like to grab users Outlook PST
files because most users like to store their passwords, account
numbers, and such in email. Grab the old email, and they're mine.
The problem is that Outlook PST files tend to gargantuan. 200-800
MBytes is typical. That doesn't fit on my cheapo USB dongle and takes
forever. I guess the best protection against my hacking is bloated
Microsoft data files. Sigh.

Anyway, if you really want to worry about security, never mind
firewalls, encryption, wireless, and and software. Worry about
exposed hardware.


--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 AE6KS 831-336-2558