On the politech list, a thread of items from various listservs related to cybersecurity and the Democratic National Convention. In one item, reader Wes Morgan says,
I'm watching CNN's Headline News, and they run a story on security preparations for this week's Democratic Convention in Boston. They go on, at great length, about the extensive network of cameras–approximately
75 of them, scattered around various Federal buildings and convention sites–and make it a point to illustrate how the security force, with their wireless networks and handheld devices, can grab the feed from any of these cameras at the tap of a stylus.So, they show one such device – with it's 802.11b card clearly identifiable
– and show another agent viewing a webcam of the Boston Harbor shoreline – with the URL of the hosting site clearly readable. When talking about the cameras, they show several different cameras on different buildings, some of which seem fairly unusual in their architecture.I now know that they're using 802.11b, and I know the name at least one system handling the webcam feeds, and (with a bit of reconaissance) I can probably determine the position of at least one camera. So much for cybersecurity; I can't believe that the Feds even let that stuff on the air, much less that they did so without obfuscating critical information. *sigh* What were they thinking?
Link, and here is a press release which states that DNC cops are using handhelds with (apparently) 802.11 to access law enforcement databases.
