Category Archives: Networking

Issues and news relating to networking.

BeWifi lets you steal your neighbor’s bandwidth when they’re not using it

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The way Telefonica has made this happen in a practical way is to build its own routers that can be installed in houses within a neighborhood. So far these have had to be installed by engineers, but the next generation are plug-and-play, and eventually all that will be needed is an over-the-air software update to customers’ existing routers. According to Rodriguez, the software “creates a mesh to aggregate the capabilities [of the routers].” Pooling all of the bandwidth from these routers allows anyone within the network to take advantage of it at home, and they can also connect to any BeWifi network they come across on their mobile devices when out and about.

via BeWifi lets you steal your neighbor’s bandwidth when they’re not using it | Ars Technica.

The title is a bit dramatic using the term “stealing” as if something as ephemeral as unused bandwidth, which disappears never to be used by anyone ever as time passes, is an asset that could be considered “stolen” if taken or used by someone else.  The victim of this kind of “theft” does not wake in the morning and see something missing unless they’re subscribed to some kind of data cap.  Most home installations do not have caps.

Telefonica is currently looking towards developing economies and its huge customer base of over 200 million households in 14 countries in South America as the places in which BeWifi could have a real impact.

BT and Alcatel-Lucent Claim Fastest Real World Fibre Optic Speed of 1.4Tbps

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Admittedly some of you might look at this and point out that Alcatel-Lucent has already successfully transmitted data at the staggering speed of 31Tbps (Terabits per second) over a single long-haul 7200km optical fibre cable (here). Similarly a UK team managed to push 73.7Tbps down a hollow fibre optic cable (here). But the difference here is that BT has pulled off an impressive improvement using an existing link in a real-world environment with commercial grade hardware. ISPs will be happy to hear that.

via BT and Alcatel-Lucent Claim Fastest Real World Fibre Optic Speed of 1.4Tbps – ISPreview UK.

Zero-Day Flaws Found, Patched In Siemens Switches

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The Siemens switch zero-day vulnerabilities are in the Web server interface to the devices. The researcher says the first of the two zero-day flaws he found in the Siemens SCALANCE X-200 switch was basic: a poorly constructed session ID setup, which would allow an attacker to hijack an administrative session on the switch without credentials. The session ID basically exposes the client’s IP address so an attacker could then hijack the admin’s Web-based session while managing the switch. “But you don’t log onto these switches very often — maybe once a year– so, in that sense, it’s a weak vulnerability,” he says.

The more critical zero-day Leverett found in the switch was the second one, which would let an attacker take over the admin operations of the switch — no authentication required. The attacker could then download any network configuration information, or upload a malware-ridden firmware update, for example, Leverett says. “The device assumes if you know the URL, you must have authentication. But it never asks you to authenticate [for it],” he says.

via Zero-Day Flaws Found, Patched In Siemens Switches — Dark Reading.

NASA’s LLCD tests confirm laser communication capabilities in space

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The LLCD is a demonstration of the practicality of using broadband lasers for deep space communications with download speeds orders of magnitude greater than conventional radio communications. With the ability to download data to Earth at 622 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload at 20 Mbps, the LLCD transmitted a record-breaking download on October 20 from lunar orbit using a pulsed laser beam that was picked up by the main LLCD ground station in New Mexico, which is one of three set up in the US and Spain.

via NASA’s LLCD tests confirm laser communication capabilities in space.

Boost Satellite Bandwidth and End Jittery Videos

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The tweaked version of TCP being honed by the MIT group and colleagues instead sends mathematical functions describing multiple packets so that a receiving device, such as a satellite terminal, can solve for missing ones without having to refetch them. “You transfer more packets than what you normally would, but you don’t have to retransmit,” Khan says.

via Boost Satellite Bandwidth and End Jittery Videos | MIT Technology Review.

This is a problem streaming in wifi networks with sketchy coverage  as well.  This is similar to a snippet I posted here on 10/25/2012 in reference to this article also from the MIT Technology Review  A Bandwidth Breakthrough

Apparently they’re still working on this TCP retransmission problem.

Avaya builds massive Wi-Fi net for 2014 Winter Olympics

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Adding to the challenge, “We expect these people to be carrying and using multiple wireless devices,” says Frohwerk. “In Vancouver, we only had to provision one device per user. This means that we really have to have the capability to support up to 120,000 users on the Sochi Wi-Fi network, without issues or interruptions.”

via Avaya builds massive Wi-Fi net for 2014 Winter Olympics – Network World.

It’s interesting that they have to provision devices to users.  Is this done manually?  Here’s more….

In Sochi, Avaya’s Wi-Fi network will be split into five virtual SSID-based networks. There will be one network for the athletes, two for media (one free, one paid), one for Olympics staff, and one for dignitaries.

Each group will have its own access password, and extra layers of password protection will be added where needed. The Wi-Fi traffic will be distributed using about 2,000 802.11n access points across the Olympics Game sites; including inside the stands for the first time.

Each SSID will need its own range of frequencies so having 5 seems like it would present problems trying to figure out where to place access points so their radio transmissions don’t step on each other.  Also there doesn’t seem to be any provisions made for their customers, the people paying to attend these events.

Firms race to transmit Wall Street data at nearly light speed

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Through a series of microwave towers, the dish beams market data 734 miles to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s computer warehouse in Aurora, Ill., in 4.13 milliseconds, or about 95% of the theoretical speed of light, according to the company.

Fiber-optic cables, which are made up of long strands of glass, carry data at roughly 65% of light speed.

via Firms race to transmit Wall Street data at nearly light speed – latimes.com.

On Covert Acoustical Mesh Networks in Air

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Different applications of covert acoustical mesh networks are presented, including the use for remote keylogging over multiple hops. It is shown that the concept of a covert acoustical mesh network renders many conventional security concepts useless, as acoustical communications are usually not considered. Finally, countermeasures against covert acoustical mesh networks are discussed, including the use of lowpass filtering in computing systems and a host-based intrusion detection system for analyzing audio input and output in order to detect any irregularities.

via On Covert Acoustical Mesh Networks in Air – Volume 8, No. 11, November 2013 – Journal of Communications.