Baslinux mailing list

[baslinux AT lists.ibiblio.org]

Message from Steven
===================
James wrote:
>
> Another important question is whether there is 
> a Linux program that will allow the user to deploy 
> WPA encryption (or key hashing, or MIC) for this 
> card. 

Yes there is.

> Have you tried that? 

Not yet.  I'm still waiting for my Aironet 350 to
arrive.  Should be here soon.
 
> WEP is not at all secure and there are programs out 
> there that can crack the WEP key in just a few minutes 

Are you talking about a 40-bit WEP or a 128-bit?

> I trust https/ssl wired connections. 

Don't https/ssl wireless connections work just as well?

> The very nature of wireless adds another vulerability 
> point in computer inter-communications: you broadcast 
> signals to/from your base station that anyone within 
> range can intercept. 

True, but your wired packets are also open to interception.
What a lot of people don't realize is that the wired
connection relays your packets through many servers.
At each of those servers your packets can be viewed.

> What would be your solution? 

128-bit encryption seems pretty secure to me.

> Should we just admit that, since our traffic could be 
> sniffed anywhere along the way to its destination or back, 
> regardless of whether it's a wired or wireless connection, 
> making the radio transmission part of the equation more 
> secure is unimportant?

The most important reason to secure the radio connection
is to stop interlopers getting access to your network and 
leeching bandwidth.  There is also some benefit in making
it more difficult for hackers to get into your system.
However, I fail to see why it is significantly more 
dangerous to expose your system to an unencrypted wireless 
network than it is to expose it to the internet.  Security
comes from firewalls, secure operating systems and ssl.

Cheers,
Steven