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posted by n1 on Tuesday July 14 2015, @05:09AM   Printer-friendly
from the we-can't-have-nice-things dept.

ProxyHam was a device that would let you share internet over traditional radio frequencies, enabling a user to be miles from the actual internet connection. A good tool for anonymity. It was supposed to be featured at Def Con, but has suddenly been shut down. All devices have been destroyed, no details will be released, according to the twitter of Rhino Security, the company behind the device.

This is possibly a National Security Letter, but due to their nature it's pretty hard to get that confirmed.

So if patents were not a problem, and if the FCC wasn't a problem - as confirmed by Caudill himself, why was this tool forced out of the public's reach? We may never know.

[...] For the record, I asked Caudill about getting a NSL, Caudill would only answer, "No comment."

I'd like to know what the commenters think. Was this actually rubbish like the AnonaBox and is this their elegant way to bow out? Or was this actually a solution that worked, and hence got shut down? Considering the fact these dudes wanted to demonstrate it at Def Con, it appears pretty legitimate.


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by _NSAKEY on Tuesday July 14 2015, @05:29AM

    by _NSAKEY (16) on Tuesday July 14 2015, @05:29AM (#208758)
    Starting Score:    1  point
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       Troll=1, Interesting=1, Informative=2, Total=4
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    Total Score:   4  
  • (Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 14 2015, @09:08AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 14 2015, @09:08AM (#208798)

    Figures you [wikipedia.org] would say that.

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday July 14 2015, @02:54PM

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Tuesday July 14 2015, @02:54PM (#208909) Homepage

      In modern chickenshit America, it's also likely that somebody would see it lying around and freak the fuck out and call the FBI saying that they found an evil terrorist bomb.

      Then SWAT and the bomb squad would blow it up in the streets for effect, then tell America that they just saved them from another terrorist threat and to be ever-vigilant against ISIS.

      • (Score: 1) by TheMessageNotTheMessenger on Tuesday July 14 2015, @04:16PM

        by TheMessageNotTheMessenger (5664) on Tuesday July 14 2015, @04:16PM (#208970)

        You clearly illustrate the stupid part of the ProxyHam project. Does such a stupid idea warrant a national security letter though?

        --
        Hello! :D
      • (Score: 2) by edIII on Tuesday July 14 2015, @08:53PM

        by edIII (791) on Tuesday July 14 2015, @08:53PM (#209089)

        Well considering this is modern chickenshit America you're speaking about, I would have to disagree.

        All you need to do is camouflage it. Depending on location, just call it an Internet-O-Extender, The Facebook Everywhere(tm) Project, Netflix HomeBeam, Apple Neighborhood Watch, whatever.

        I literally just watched a street full of people and cars ignore an epileptic person seizing in the intersection till I ran out of my car and got to him. I'm going with America is too stupid and oblivious to raise an alarm, especially if they believe it's actually part of the bread and circuses that entertain them.

        Of course, were I to actually try and use one of these..... that's what breaking into the dmarc/electrical closet of a corporate building is for. As long as everything is labeled nice and neat, and the install is professionally labeled, just about every tech out there will ignore it. In many cases, the cablemodem/DSL/T1 circuits aren't even in the suites, but in the electrical closets, posing even less of a chance of detailed inspection.

        PLENTY of places to hide these things, and plenty of things to make it look *like*. In all seriousness, I think you could install a few of these things that might never be found. Especially, if they're geared to crack into wireless networks around them, or use guest wireless services, or heck, even paid wireless hot-spot services.

        --
        Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
        • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday July 14 2015, @11:13PM

          by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Tuesday July 14 2015, @11:13PM (#209135) Homepage

          " I literally just watched a street full of people and cars ignore an epileptic person seizing in the intersection till I ran out of my car and got to him. I'm going with America is too stupid and oblivious to raise an alarm, especially if they believe it's actually part of the bread and circuses that entertain them. "

          They're both too selfish and stupid to save a life when they have big important things to do like go fuck off on Facebook. Chances are somebody will eventually help the guy anyway, so who cares he ends up swallowing his own tongue -- the paramedics could just poke a hole in his trachea and he'll be fine...assuming he doesn't suffocate first.

          We're finally seeing the results of Calhoun's mouse experiments manifest themselves in our own society.

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday July 14 2015, @06:30PM

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Tuesday July 14 2015, @06:30PM (#209028) Journal

    They claim a range of miles. I wonder if the FCC had something to say about spectrum/signal strength.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 14 2015, @07:59PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 14 2015, @07:59PM (#209061)

      No encryption over HAM radio frequencies.

      While I can't remember the details, I believe 2.4/5.8 were explicit exemptions when the 802.11b predecessor protocols started becoming popular.

      Given the transmisison power/range these devices touted and the fact that they were operating in ISM bands which AFAIK still have the HAM encryption restrictions in place, I assume the takedown happened on account of that, possibly through a non-FCC source (Like via a politely worded letter from the American HAM branch explaining what sort of hassle this little project was/would cause for them.)

      I still can't believe 20 years on there are amateurs like this going to DefCon peddling half-baked shit for money. But then again that was at least half of what DefCon was the last time I visited. The rest was legitimate security research, but more often drunken douches trying to one up each other. Sounds kinda like a frat party, only for nerds.