There is a big difference, actually.
>
> On a cable modem, your home computer is part of a large ethernet
> segment. Any user can sniff your packets because everyone's data
> appears on the other user's ethernet port.
>
> A dialup system, however, has a separate router port for every
> dialup. The administrator, or someone upstream of the dialup
> server router can sniff packets, but a USER on another dialup
> cannot. Each dialup port sees only the data routed to it.
>
> To give an example.
>
> Let us say two systems, one dialup and one cable. Both have
> identical POP3 mail servers. Further, the administrator has
> a computer on the same ethernet as the mail server. Question,
> who can see what?
>
> A user checks mail. This is a cleartext POP3 mail function with
> username and passwords sent in the clear, INCLUDING the
> administrator
> when he checks his mail.
This would require, at least in the case of 2 providers in the Detroit, MI,
USA area, the hacker to reprogram his cable modem to receive other users
packets, since the cable modem is acting like a router and only passing
packets that need to go thru to the user.
The provider I'm with is SpeedChoice and the other one I have familiarity
with is Comcast/atHome. SpeedChoice is, currently, an analog (33.6kbps)
upstream and 2.4GHz (approx 2.5Mbps) microwave from a tower about 10-30
miles away. The microwave transmission is being encrypted although I don't
know the details; Specifically, if the key is unique to each modem so that
sniffing packets would be very difficult. SpeedChoice is in the process of
going fully wireless (microwave both directions) this year.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
Matthew Zaleski
