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posted by cmn32480 on Friday July 03 2015, @07:10AM   Printer-friendly
from the but-the-terrorists dept.

In the game of anonymity-versus-surveillance online, the discovery of the user's IP address usually means game over. But if Ben Caudill has his way, a network snoop who successfully hunts a user through layers of proxy connections to a final IP address would be met with a dead end—while the anonymous user remains safe at home more than a mile away.

At the upcoming DefCon hacker conference in Las Vegas next month, Caudill plans to unveil ProxyHam, a "hardware proxy" designed to use a radio connection to add a physical layer of obfuscation to an internet user's location. His open-source device, which he built for $200, connects to Wi-Fi and relays a user's Internet connection over a 900 megaherz radio connection to their faraway computer, with a range of between one and 2.5 miles depending on interference from the landscape and buildings. That means even if investigators fully trace the user's internet connection, they'll find only the ProxyHam box the person planted in a remote library, cafe, or other public place—and not their actual location.

Caudill, a researcher for the security consultancy Rhino Labs, compares his tool to typical tactics to hide the source of an Internet connection, like using a neighbor's Wi-Fi, or working from a coffee shop instead of home. But "the problem with Wi-Fi as a protocol is that you can't get the range you need. If the FBI kicks down the door, it may not be my door, but it'll be so close they can hear me breathe," says Caudill. "[ProxyHam] gives you all the benefits of being able to be at a Starbucks or some other remote location, but without physically being there."


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  • (Score: 2) by Gravis on Friday July 03 2015, @08:51AM

    by Gravis (4596) on Friday July 03 2015, @08:51AM (#204625)

    At home, my WiFi access point ethernets to an iMac with earthlink dialup. Just to piss off my neighbors, my SSID has no password, anyone in the neighborhood can use my Internet but it's not going to do them a whole lot of good.

    why be a jerk? why not just make an open hotspot for anyone to use?

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  • (Score: 1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 03 2015, @09:33AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 03 2015, @09:33AM (#204636)

    Can I have YOUR home address, SSID and PSK please Gravis? Since you're the community-spirited sort? Details or STFU...

    • (Score: 2) by Gravis on Saturday July 04 2015, @08:01AM

      by Gravis (4596) on Saturday July 04 2015, @08:01AM (#204965)

      Can I have YOUR home address, SSID and PSK please Gravis? Since you're the community-spirited sort? Details or STFU...

      sure, my address is 127.0.0.1 and if you see the SSID "free4all" then you can use it too!

  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday July 03 2015, @11:10AM

    For an SSID not to have a password means that it is an open hotspot that anyone can use.

    But my hotspot connects to the Internet via 56k dialup.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 2) by linuxrocks123 on Friday July 03 2015, @05:35PM

      by linuxrocks123 (2557) on Friday July 03 2015, @05:35PM (#204798) Journal

      That's awesome.

    • (Score: 2) by Gravis on Saturday July 04 2015, @07:49AM

      by Gravis (4596) on Saturday July 04 2015, @07:49AM (#204962)

      Just to piss off my neighbors, my SSID has no password, anyone in the neighborhood can use my Internet but it's not going to do them a whole lot of good.

      sooo... how is this not being a jerk?

      • (Score: 1) by ncc74656 on Sunday July 05 2015, @05:02PM

        by ncc74656 (4917) on Sunday July 05 2015, @05:02PM (#205319) Homepage

        Just to piss off my neighbors, my SSID has no password, anyone in the neighborhood can use my Internet but it's not going to do them a whole lot of good.

        sooo... how is this not being a jerk?

        How is it being a jerk? Beggars can't be choosers.