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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: 3, Funny) by Pslytely Psycho on Friday July 03 2015, @10:41AM

    by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Friday July 03 2015, @10:41AM (#204650)

    "they'll find only the ProxyHam box the person planted in a remote library, cafe, or other public place—and not their actual location."

    Sure, no one is going to notice strange little devices appearing at the local Starbucks or McDonalds...

    Can't help but think that when they figure out who left the boxes they will be on the hook for a lot of hurt after SWAT and the Bomb Squad get called out.

    And they WILL figure out who left the box.

    --
    Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 03 2015, @01:15PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 03 2015, @01:15PM (#204690)

    And I bet most people will not think of avoiding fingerprints on the box, so there will be a nice proof that it was indeed them who planted the box there.

    • (Score: 2) by jcross on Friday July 03 2015, @01:28PM

      by jcross (4009) on Friday July 03 2015, @01:28PM (#204695)

      And additionally, as long as you don't know they found the box, you've got a radio beacon announcing your location every time you make a web request. You think they can't triangulate that?