New Protection for 802.11

[Trei, Peter]

> James A. Donald[SMTP:jamesd at echeque.com] wrote:
> 
> 
> Reading the Wifi report,
> http://www.weca.net/OpenSection/pdf/Wi-
> Fi_Protected_Access_Overview.pdf 
> it seems their customers stampeded them and demanded that the
> security hole be fixed, fixed a damned lot sooner than they
> intended to fix it.
> 
> I am struck the contrast between the seemingly strong demand 
> for wifi security, compared to the almost complete absence of 
> demand for email security.
> 
> Why is it so? 
> 
>     --digsig
>          James A. Donald
> 
How many stories have you read in the last year about
non-LEOs stealing email?

How many stories in the last year have you read about
wardriving?

Further, tapping into 802.11b nets 

	* gives the attacker access to your internal
	  network. You already know what you're
	  sending in email, and eavesdropping on 
	  data you've already decided to send to someone
	  else feels different than someone trolling through
	  your file system without your knowledge.

	* requires that the tapper be more or less
	  nearby physically. This feels a lot
	  different than worrying that a distant
	  router is compromised.

Peter Trei



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