The French get something right

[Cain]

Check it out:

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/07/10/french-hackers-unvei.html

French hackers claim to have sabotaged Internet forensics by creating a firmware for routers that cracks nearby WiFi networks and routes your traffic through them at random, creating false trails leading to your neighbors instead of you. They're calling it the HADOPI Router, in honor of Nicolas Sarkozy's crazy Internet law of the same name.

HADOPI originally required ISPs to disconnect users after three unsubstantiated claims of copyright infringement (Princeton's Ed Felten compared this to giving publishers the power to take away all the printed matter in your household if you were accused of committing three acts of illegal photocopying or cut-and-paste). The law was initially defeated in the French parliament, then it passed on reintroduction, only to be struck down by France's high court on the grounds that it violated human rights.

Undaunted, Sarkozy has reintroduced the bill, on a fast track, with a provision that creates a five-minute judicial review prior to account termination, fines and imprisonment for those accused of illegal file-sharing. The French HADOPI Router hackers created their technology to highlight the unreliability of network forensics under the best of circumstances, and to create a veneer of plausible deniability for any accused: "Your honor, I must have been the victim of a neighbor with a HADOPI router."

[Triple Zero]

wow router firmware cracking nearby wifi networks ... that is just awesome

just a bit of random info: your internet router (the little box with the blinking lights) is actually pretty much like a regular computer, except with no monitor or keyboard attached. it computes stuff such as which ports to forward where, firewall rules and (not always but often) logging into your ISP. it usually comes preinstalled with certain software ("firmware"), but you can easily upload new firmware into this router (no special hardware needed, just access it via your local network), and because it's a generic computer, it can also do stuff like detecting and cracking wireless passwords of nearby networks

in fact, routers are often terribly insecure. they come preset with a default password to their admin screen which is the same for every model of the type, and can be found easily by googling "model name default password". often the password is as simple as "user/admin". if you want to fix this, do Start>Run>"cmd", type "ipconfig" in the commandline box that appears, and note the IP-address of the "standard gateway", it should look like 192.168.x.x or 10.10.x.x. type this address into your browser, and you should be presented with the admin screen of your router. it will probably ask for a user or password, so google it. look around a bit in the settings screen (it's educational ) and change the password to something more secure. it is probably a good idea to write this password on a sticker and paste it on your router, so you won't forget it. that won't really compromise security cause you're defending against attacks from outside, and someone who gains physical access to your router doesnt need the password anyway. it also helps if you have roommates that may still live in your home after you move out.