A $200 privacy device has been killed, and no one knows why

originally posted by: RickyD
Let me do you guys a favor and clue you into directional antennas. You can even make very very cheap versions out of a Pringles can. I had a friend who tested one with his PSP that was rooted and had custom firmware which was very heavily modified (all at home right style for dirt cheap). If I remember right he used the connector from a belkan router antenna which happened to have the same connector as the internal antenna in the PSP. Dremal out a hole to plug it in mount your antenna and scan for WiFi. You can use some easy to find software to crack wep encryption on other people's routers and jump on their WiFi. Volia there you have it anonymous internet. Also he was able to intercept packets and do things like read your emails. Pretty sure you can scale that up if you have the money and reach some pretty good distances. Just a little tib bit for those saddened by this loss of tech.

I've done this in the past, the computer I'm typing this on right now is running Backtrack as the OS actually (I'm a bit out of date...). I used to use antennas this way to get wifi from a person over a block away. The real problem these days is that almost everyone is using wpa2 and that's much harder to crack unless there are some new techniques I don't know about. Your best shot these days is to hope for someone to be using a default admin password because getting into wpa2 takes a lot of time.

Anyways this guys story sounds a lot like what happened to Lavabit.

a reply to: Aazadan

Yea these days you spend the 200-400$ on the antenna to up your range a bit then use somewhere with free WiFi as the target. Or you use the cheaper smaller range antennas and get closer to the coffee shop lol.

a reply to: RickyD

It seems to me that the safest place would be in that coffee shop. Set your equipment down somewhere, sit elsewhere in the shop and act like a regular customer. When the cops discover the box and fan out, you get to see everything they're doing, and get to be free to go with all the rest of the customers.

i have several issues with this :

1 - its not magic - its just a repeater box - and the so far published info - tells anyone wit the skills required how to do it themselves ,

2 - where are you going to plug it in - not a trick question - think about this

3 when you have an answer to Q2 - riddle me this :

how often can you change the answer to Q2 ?

4 - how much does it cost every time you need to change the answer to q2

its an idea that sounds " cool " but how are you actually going to impliment it ?????

originally posted by: Aazadan

originally posted by: RickyD
The real problem these days is that almost everyone is using wpa2 and that's much harder to crack unless there are some new techniques I don't know about. Your best shot these days is to hope for someone to be using a default admin password because getting into wpa2 takes a lot of time.

Anyways this guys story sounds a lot like what happened to Lavabit.

Gee Wally, you could always use the Reaver...

originally posted by: MonkeyFishFrog
a reply to: Kratos40

Honestly, the first thing that came to mind was good because now child/human traffickers and child porn peddlers will have one less thing to hide behind.

The sad thing is it doesnt matter,

NSA rarely involves itself in such things.

For such "common" criminals a typical tor/vpn will be enough to hide behind.

This is silly. You don't need an extra $200 device to send information anonymously.

Get a lappy from craigslist/ebay.

Install nux, spoof the mac addy, hop on a free cloud vps from public wifi, proxy via China and tor protocol.

Boom. You just bought yourself more than enough time to disseminate info.

originally posted by: Kratos40
So Ben Caudill strung us along for several months about creating and making available a device that can hide your IP and your identity. Now all of a sudden, he has withdrawn his project.

It's dead because it relied on something that is unethical -- hijacking the WiFi of others; and now illegal in many states -- hijacking the WiFi of others.

There were quite a few initiatives to make WiFi hijacking illegal in many states before he started his radio bridge... so it wasn't because of his "device."

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

Yes, but his main market base was supposed to be hackers, and last time I checked they don't obey the laws anyhow. Also, how would anyone ever figure out and prove if someone was hijacking Wifi connections, especially if they were public?

a reply to: SpaDe_

The terms of use, even for public/municipal WiFi, have always disallowed bridges of any type.

He either had nothing that would work in the first place, or the price for his principles was finally found.

Quite possibly it simply did not work?

a reply to: SpaDe_

Also, how would anyone ever figure out and prove if someone was hijacking Wifi connections, especially if they were public?

System alerts, logs indicating repetitive type connections and possible bandwidth interruptions or unusual traffic patterns could cause some one to take a look.

Possible methods to get caught:
If the person on route to drop off the device or purchasing the device didn't take precautions they could be caught.

if the person crossed Traffic or business Camaras , had a GPS in cellphone or other electronic devices carried in the car or with them when they dropped off the ProxyHam, mac address on parts and association to a payment, and Wireless RF analysers are to name a few ways they could be caught.

Not to mention any logging on the system (router,computer,phone,etc) that the proxyham connected to in order to get internet access. Then tracing mac address or electronic finger prints from the proxyham and the ISP bandwidth stolen or accessed from it.

Using honeypot methods that allow the proxyham to connect through.

Not cheap and cumbersome but doable depending how bad they want to get you, assuming they weren't able to get you by simpler other software and encryption weakness or hiccups.

I'll bet the FCC got onto him because of the transmit power level.
Couldn't sell it if it exceeds x amount of RF power.

Think business. He probably sold out to another country for a project down the line that would get him more money.

a reply to: Aazadan

default admin pw? Unless you´re on LAN, WPA encryption will prevent a handshake to the network thus the router web interface is out of reach. Or do you mean easy wpa2 passphrase?