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From: kayodeok <news4kayode@btopenworld.com> Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 08:57:31 +0000 (UTC) Newsgroups: grc.linkfarm How to hacker-proof your Wi-Fi network How do you keep your office building safe from data theft? British defence contractor has come up with wallpaper that prevents Wi-Fi signals from escaping from a building without blocking mobile phone signals. This is to prevent hackers from tapping into Wi-Fi networks set up casually by office workers. Normally, such Wi-Fi networks are unprotected by a firewall. Hackers can use the Wi-Fi signals to gain illegal access to a company's secure network, and hence its data. Of course, one option is to ban staff from using their own local Wi-Fi setups. However, you may want to give them the freedom to roam. The technology, commissioned by the UK's telecoms regulator, Ofcom, uses BAE Systems' Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) sheeting, which is used to protect radar antennas on warships or military aircraft. The FSS wallpaper is made from a 0.1-millimetre-thick sheet of copper-coated kapton, a plastic used to make flexible printed circuit boards in portable devices such as camcorders. Previously IT security had to signal-proof offices by lining the walls with aluminium foil and by using window glass that absorbs radio waves, according to New Scientist magazine. The technique ensures all electromagnetic emissions are absorbed, meaning cellphones could not be used in the building. Ofcom says the new wallpaper can block Wi-Fi at 2.4, 5 and 6 gigahertz, while letting through GSM, 3G cellphone signals, and emergency service calls. You can also choose to block all signals by feeding a current through the diodes in the wallpaper. Now that's security proofing. A square metre will set the company back about $930, BAE estimates. The company is working on a transparent, ultra-thin version to be used for coating windows. http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041124/BUSINESS/111240085
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