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Article: Insecurity Blanket. (Mac Beat).(Tutorial)
- Article from:
- Macworld
- Article date:
- January 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Mac Publishing. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It's old news that the security mechanisms built into 802.11b--the formal name for the wireless networking technology used in Apple's AirPort--are not up to the job. Independent analyses have found that WEP, the so-called Wired Equivalent Privacy scheme, is more of a speed bump than a barrier when it comes to repelling attackers (see Buzz, July 2001).
Given a little time, skill, and motivation, nefarious individuals can tune into your wireless network, listen in on its traffic, and muscle in on your bandwidth. Even worse: there's no way to tell that someone has cracked your wireless network until it's too late.
Surprisingly, research shows that the ...