On Sun, May 30, 2010 at 04:38:37AM -0500, Mikus Grinbergs wrote: > But this was on channel 1. Can neighbors (or drive-bys) connect to > it?
Yes. Depending on what you mean by "connect". Anyone else in the vicinity [1] can obtain the laptop name [2] merely by performing a passive scan [3]. Anyone in the vicinity [1] can associate with the network, can negotiate an IP address using zeroconf, and could monitor the network packets and see the laptop name [2], and obtain activity sharing data; e.g. a transcript of Chat between two XOs. > And what is my legal liability if they do? That depends on your legal environment. As Sascha pointed out: this same vulnerability is common to all laptops, computers, and operating systems that contain support for open wireless networks. There's no obscuring. I see these ad-hoc networks available on my MacBook and can connect to them. I can't reach the internet through them though. The ad-hoc network mode does not depend on security by obscurity. It simply has no security at all, apart from that afforded by user training. Footnotes: [1] within radio range, which varies from metres to kilometers depending on height above ground of each wireless device, [2] the "Name" and "Color" as set on initial boot or using the Control Panel (My Settings) page "About Me", [3] "iwlist eth0 scan" or the equivalent, such as the what the Neighbourhood View does on an XO, or the wireless menu on an Apple. -- James Cameron http://quozl.linux.org.au/ _______________________________________________ Devel mailing list [email protected] http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
