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Archives: July 2005

July 31, 2005

@ DEFCON - Hackers race to expose Cisco router flaw

Everyone at DEFCON went out of their way to get/learn/explore the Cisco flaw because of the way it was (poorly) handled...Angered and inspired by Cisco's attempts to suppress news of the flaw earlier in the week, several computer security experts at the Defcon computer-security conference worked past midnight Saturday to discover and map out the vulnerability. I saw the PDF(s) actually being handed out to random people all over Vegas too. Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 31, 2005 10:33 PM
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@ DEFCON - The wall of sheep

At DEFCON there's a wall with a projection of username and passwords (some of the passwords, that is). When you use any wireless here, it's safe to assume that all the packets are being captured, and if you're foolish, you logged in to webmail, pop, AIM, etc... DEFCON is reality concentrated into one spot -- when you see your friend's password on the wall, and a big sheep go by, it's a clever reminder. Here are some photos...

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Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 31, 2005 01:42 PM
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@ DEFCON - The vendor room

The vendor room at DEFCON is always a real treat. From metric tons of old computers to how-to books on everything you should and should ever even consider. I also ran into the folks from the BBS Documentary; the audio interview will be posted up shortly. Here are some photos of neat old computers and parts that were for sale...Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 31, 2005 01:25 PM
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@ DEFCON - Robotwarez!

RobotWarez is a contest that takes place at each DEFCON. Since the target audience is hackers, elegant approaches are rewarded, and simple brute force is not encouraged. When I was there, the robots were firing something with compressed air and doing a good job of knocking some cans over. Photos here and here.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 31, 2005 01:12 PM
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@ DEFCON - New World Record for Wi-Fi Distance: 125 Miles

...the world record holders for the longest distance for an unamplified Wi-Fi link (55.1 miles at 30mw) blasted through their own year old record today at the Defcon Wi-Fi Shootout. Team PAD shot their signal a distance of 125 miles from outside Las Vegas, Nevada to a location near St. George, Utah, winning them a new record in the "unamplified" category at the shootout. Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 31, 2005 01:00 PM
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@ DEFCON - Joe Grand

I spotted MAKE author Joe Grand at DEFCON and he had a really interesting project around his neck. He makes these little devices in the classes he teaches- the skills build on many electronics concepts (LEDs, resistors, etc...) then he has the students hack it and reverse engineer it. Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 31, 2005 12:55 PM
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@ DEFCON - The Janus 6 Wi-Fi card 0wning station...

The Janus wireless system is an A, B, G six card box that scans all the Wi-Fi channels and captures all the packets where it is deployed. At DEFCON if you use the wireless network, assume all your traffic will end up in this box or worse, the WALL OF SHEEP (passwords, usernames from pop, webmail, ftp, etc..). Here's the photo gallery with MAKERS....

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Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 31, 2005 10:21 AM
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@ DEFCON RFID World record attempt...

The fellows from Flexilis went for a world record attempt on reading RFID tags from a distance. The end result was a bit over 69 feet on top of the roof of DEFCON. Project details will be in our audio show, but for now, a photo gallery of the gear....

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Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 31, 2005 10:07 AM
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July 30, 2005

@ DEFCON - The shmoo bloodhound Wi-Fi gun

The fellows from the shmoo group really outdid themselves with a "Bloodhound" gun. It's a low cost "gun" made from a Pocket PC and some off the shelf parts that can find rouge Wireless access points. It's not only useful, it's incredibly cool looking, we're going to try and get a HOW TO on MAKE. Here's a photo gallery...

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Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 30, 2005 07:17 PM
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@ DEFCON - lock picking

The 3rd annual lock picking contest went on at DEFCON. It's pretty amazing to see the wide variety of tools, locks and lock pickers all in one spot and all handily dispensing of most locks in record time. Here are some photos of the lock picking in action (I was able to liberate a couple locks, but there was this young kid who schooled me and did it with his eyes closed, the show off)... Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 30, 2005 06:56 PM
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@ DEFCON - Hotel room hacking

I was going to write up the IR hacking talk, but Wired news online got to it before I had access so here ya go. A vulnerability in many hotel television infrared systems can allow a hacker to obtain guests' names and their room numbers from the billing system. It can also let someone read the e-mail of guests who use web mail through the TV, putting business travelers at risk of corporate espionage. Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 30, 2005 06:14 PM
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@ DEFCON - Mike Lynn presentation mirrors and legal fund

BoingBoing has the latest list of the "many, many mirrors for Mike Lynn's controversial Black Hat presentation in which he quit his job, described critical vulnerabilities in Cisco equipment and got sued by his employer"...I'm getting slammed with emails and IMs about this, so here ya go...Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 30, 2005 06:00 PM
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@ DEFCON - The Kegbot project

Friday night at DEFCON the from the shadows crew gave MAKE the exclusive scoop on the Kegbot. A linux-based Keg system that tracks users, tallies calories and more. We interviewed one of the MAKERS as well as getting a lot of photos of the construction to completion.

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Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 30, 2005 07:51 AM
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@ DEFCON - Encrypted VoIP

Phil Zimmerman showed off his "new project" a encrypted VoIP shtoom application. Right now, if you're using VoIP, there really isn't any real security, but soon, that might change. Here are a couple photos of the app in action. Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 30, 2005 06:59 AM
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July 29, 2005

@ DEFCON- Flaw researcher settles dispute with Cisco

"Security researcher Michael Lynn has settled a dispute with Cisco over his presentation on hacking the company's routers, which was given at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas this week. The two parties and Black Hat organisers have agreed not to further discuss the presentation, which contained techniques Lynn said could bring the Internet to its knees." [via] [BoingBoing round up] Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 29, 2005 07:04 PM
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@ DEFCON - Laptops need power

So far I've learned one important thing: laptops need power. I secured a new power adaptor, but it's a drag when this happens. Turns out you can indeed get anything in Vegas. The coverage will now resume.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 29, 2005 07:00 PM
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@ DEFCON - Security fix blog

Brian Krebs has a good round up of today's events. I didn't get a chance to check out the lock picking area yet, but that will be my first stop now that I can get online and have power again! Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 29, 2005 03:07 PM
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July 28, 2005

@ DEFCON - It's hot

It's at least one billion degrees here in Vegas... I arrived in Vegas and picked up my badge. The booklet is chock full of goodies, it even includes a paper enigma machine. There's a CD that I need to dive in to, just from a quick perusal -- tons of presentations. So far I've met a few folks. The big topic of conversation is the Cisco flaw found. Will post more as the conference starts on Friday. Here are some pics for now... Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 28, 2005 02:38 PM
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Portable Defcon 13 Schedule Data (unofficial)

We have the DEFCON schedule in iPod format, but here are some more....This data is available in iCalendar and vCal (PalmDesktop) formats, too. If you like that sort of thing. I think iCal will sync the appointments to an iPod, but I don't actually know. Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 28, 2005 11:05 AM
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MakeZine.com: DefCon 13 Coverage

Let the coverage begin! Phillip Torrone from MAKE Magazine will be covering the annual hacker conference DefCon in Las Vegas July 29th to the 31st. If you plan to attend we've put together an iPod notes version of the schedule for all three days of DEFCON as well the complete speaker list. If you want to get "live" audio and video coverage from DEFCON click this link and click SUBSCRIBE. This will automatically download the content via iTunes all next week. Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Jul 28, 2005 12:08 AM
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