password protecting my wireless network
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From: Wes Groleau on 28 Jan 2010 21:46 J.J. O'Shea wrote: > My WPA key is (currently; it changes on a periodic basis) based on the > following: > > 1 the date my oldest nephew graduated from university It's a near-certainty that you have several relatives into genealogy. There's about a ten percent chance that one of them has put everything they know online without the customary hiding of data on living persons. > 2 the phrase 'clear the way'... in a language other then English. Misspelled. > With sTrange cAps. _I_ happen to know that phrase, and others useful for A tough one, though IF someone actually had any reason to crack you, he could type "clear the way" into http://translate.google.com and try each of the 51 available other languages. Of course, there's also a probability the translation will be incorrect. > 3 non-alphanumeric symbols of my choosing. Tougher, but if they're all on a standard keyboard, that's less than 33,000 possibilities. Point is, no one is even going to try unless there is a special reason they want YOU _personally_ And if it comes to that, they WILL find a way. -- Wes Groleau "A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature, and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as could possibly be imagined." -- David Hume, age 37 "There's no such thing of that, 'cause I never heard of it." -- Becky Groleau, age 4
From: J.J. O'Shea on 28 Jan 2010 22:44 On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:46:55 -0500, Wes Groleau wrote (in article <hjti71$dki$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>): > J.J. O'Shea wrote: >> My WPA key is (currently; it changes on a periodic basis) based on the >> following: >> >> 1 the date my oldest nephew graduated from university > > It's a near-certainty that you have several relatives into genealogy. > There's about a ten percent chance that one of them has put everything > they know online without the customary hiding of data on living persons. There are an awful lot of O'Sheas out there. Identifying the correct target will be difficult... > >> 2 the phrase 'clear the way'... in a language other then English. >> Misspelled. >> With sTrange cAps. _I_ happen to know that phrase, and others useful for > > A tough one, though IF someone actually had any reason to crack you, > he could type "clear the way" into http://translate.google.com > and try each of the 51 available other languages. Of course, there's > also a probability the translation will be incorrect. The language I used ain't on the Google list. And I deliberately misspelled it, so even if they find the right language they'd have to work out how I did the misspelling. Another hint: to my certain knowledge that phrase in that language has been used in at least one Major Motion Picture... and Hollyweird got it _wrong_. (Big surprise...) If anyone gets inspired and goes looking in, say, the IMDB, they'll get an answer. The _wrong_ answer. And it may _never_ get corrected. After all, the boyz from Hollyweird don't even have to leave the United States to discover that 'Hokahey' does _not_ mean 'It's a good day to die', <http://www.native-languages.org/iaq21.htm> but they haven't worked it out yet, as any number of Westerns featuring assorted Amerinds will show. (Not to mention that it was supposed to be a Sioux phrase, so putting it in the mouths of Apache makes even less sense than Hollyweird normally does, and yes I've seen at least two movies where the attacking Apaches are shouting Hokahey as they ride around the fort on horseback. Something Apache _never_ did, as they, unlike the powers that be in Hollyweird, actually had sense.) Having Hollyweird cover for me is an extra line of defence. At least they've managed to work out what 'banzai' really means. Took 'em long enough. > >> 3 non-alphanumeric symbols of my choosing. > > Tougher, but if they're all on a standard keyboard, > that's less than 33,000 possibilities. But they have to work out the other items before figuring out what symbols are in use is of the least bit of help. > > Point is, no one is even going to try unless there is > a special reason they want YOU _personally_ And if it > comes to that, they WILL find a way. Not unless they're the NSA and even then it'd take 'em a while. It'd probably be easier to mount the attack from some other angle rather than try to break the WPA2 key that way. -- email to oshea dot j dot j at gmail dot com.
From: Wes Groleau on 29 Jan 2010 00:06 Michelle Steiner wrote: > Wes Groleau <Groleau+news(a)FreeShell.org> wrote: > >> Won't work with an iPod. Automatically grabs a strong enough broadcast >> SSID for which it knows the password. > > One day when my internet was out, I picked up a neighbor's WiFi with both > my computer and my iPhone; the SSID was "Linksys" and there was no password. > > A few weeks later, while I was visiting a friend, I noticed that my iPhone > had connected to a network named Linksys. No, it wasn't my friend's; it > was her neighbor's. "For which it knows the password" includes if that password is null. :-) Same SSID, same (null) password = "same" net -- Wes Groleau Tracing origins—fascinating http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/barrett?itemid=1427
From: Wes Groleau on 29 Jan 2010 00:11 nospam wrote: > <Groleau+news(a)FreeShell.org> wrote: >> Not accurate. You have to select "Other" _every_ time you want to >> connect. Then it asks for Name (SSID) and security type. If you >> pick "WEP" or "WPA", then you have to enter the key >> >> _every_ time. > > not on any of my computers or iphone/ipods. i set it once and it's > done. it reconnects automatically, usually by the time the home screen > comes up but occasionally it takes longer. My iPod reconnects automatically to the first one on the list to which it has connected before. I am not sure how the list is sorted, but I think it is signal strength. I do know that APs with hidden SSIDs are NOT on the list. Yes, all other computers I own, both Mac and Windows, have much more sensible approaches than the iPod. Windows lets _me_ decide the order of preference, and a hidden SSID does not mess that up. -- Wes Groleau Tracing origins—fascinating http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/barrett?itemid=1427
From: Warren Oates on 29 Jan 2010 10:31
In article <michelle-3DE428.19343128012010(a)nothing.attdns.com>, Michelle Steiner <michelle(a)michelle.org> wrote: > One day when my internet was out, I picked up a neighbor's WiFi with both > my computer and my iPhone; the SSID was "Linksys" and there was no password. > > A few weeks later, while I was visiting a friend, I noticed that my iPhone > had connected to a network named Linksys. No, it wasn't my friend's; it > was her neighbor's. Well, los numeros uno y dos best practices: change the default SSID and the default admin password. People like your neighbours are the kind who leave the defaults, but "hide" the SSID. -- Very old woody beets will never cook tender. -- Fannie Farmer |