Wireless Laptops At Democratic Convention Pose Big Risk

[rawstory]

Trying to dig up something to counter Sludge's round of made-up news; found first at the liberal alternative to Drudge, http://rawstory.com ... This actually sounds like it COULD be a problem....

By Gregg Keizer, TechWeb News

Next week, thousands will gather in Boston for the Democratic National Convention, many of them armed with wireless-enabled laptops that could present major security problems, a Boston-area firm said Thursday.

Although the convention itself will rely on a wired network, there are hundreds of unsecured wireless access points and cards around and about the FleetCenter, home to the convention, according to tests done by Newbury Networks, a provider of location-based wireless security solutions.

In a pair of day-long drives around the FleetCenter in July, Newbury easily found thousands of unsecured access points in Boston and hundreds in the immediate area of the FleetCenter, said the company's chief technology officer, Matthew Gray.

The unsecured access points and cards could pose a serious problem at the convention, said Gray.

http://www.internetweek.com/allStories/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=23905152

[Longhorn]

1. Wrong link.

Though I enjoyed the article about Hollywood rallying against Bush!

[rawstory]

2. Fixed; thanks

[politicat]

3. Sigh. Patch your machines, people. Use long, alphanumeric passwords.

Don't be a stupid computer user. But really, a couple thousand bloggers on laptops are not that much of a threat.

Of course the only secure network is an unplugged network, one that doesn't hit the outside world. If the DNC network is hardwired, and does not allow anyone who is not part of the DNC network to plug into the network (i.e. no journalists are allowed to sit down and use ethernet) there is no possible way for someone with a wifi card to get access to the hardwired network. Duh.

Of course, that rule has to be rigorously followed - no one can come on the network. And of course, if the network has even a single computer that has a link to the outside world, it's vulnerable.

But it's not the wifi.

Pcat. (Who wishes people would understand security before they spout off about it.... )