Using Technology to Terrorize
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Never in a Million years would I think of this. At least, I don't think I would have.
Imagine a terrorist gets a suitcase placed on a plane, down in the cargo hold, and it has some sort of device, not necessarily explosive, but one that might be able to disrupt the plane's electrical system, maybe even some type of EMP device. When checking in the bag, the person enables a wifi device, after all, we don't screen for them, do we?
The plane takes off and at cruising altitude, the wifi device secures a DHCP address from the plane's internal wireless Internet service. The terrorist now sees the device active from the Internet cafe adjacent to the airport, still on the ground, and triggers the device.
That's what the US government is afraid of and is asking for permission to quickly tap communications from planes. While I am not sure I think they should have this power, it's certainly a scary thought.
It's another unique use for technology that I hadn't thought of. Another criminal mind working to find another way to dig past the new power of a technology and twist it for nefarious purposes. I am rarely surprised these days by what people think of, but this one caught me off guard.
We here in America have been mostly separated from the terror and danger that much of the world lives in. Going to lunch in Israel or Palenstine is literally a gamble with your life, never knowing if a bomb will go off next to you. London got a little closer recently to that feeling in its citizens, which is a sad day in the world.
I hope America never gets that way and that the rest of the world gets to enjoy the peace of mind that so many of us in the US take for granted every day.
Steve Jones
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Actually Steve we have had the IRA for over 30 years. They even bombed the local army barracks which considering it is in rural Shropshire was pretty unlikely.
So do we go around Britain in a constant state of fear and paranoia? Do we heck. I am sure politicians would like to think so in order to thrust ID cards on us or some other infringement of civil liberties.
There have been some Islamist terrorist blathering on about Britain being quaking on its knees from fear but the footy was on the other channel so I couldn't be bothered to listen.
Lunch in Israel may be a gamble with your life but its a gamble that thousands take every day. They just get on with their life.
Nelson Mandela was asked if he hated the guards of his jail where he had been imprisoned all those years. He said "No, because if I hated them they would have won". If we quake in fear everytime some cretin with a bomb threatens us then they will have won.
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I thought with America's Gun Laws (or rather lack thereof) and crime levels it was dangerous going out to lunch there anyway! At least, that's what we're told overseas.
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On a trip to Northern Ireland this year, upon being told the Europa in Belfast was the most bombed hotel in Europe, I decided to have a pint there. There was a decent live band on so I actually ended up staying for three pints, until it shut.
Certainly no fear. To be honest, I was probably more at risk crossing the road from the previous pub to get there in the first place.
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People need to get real. WiFi a plane. Cell phones on a plane. Air phones on a plane. Why? What is SOOO important, life or death emergency, that it can't wait until your back on the ground? (don't anyone try to interject the 9/11 example here - it's shameful, we're talking the every day millions of passengers who fly w/o incident.) If it is an emergency... what do you think you could possibly accomplish at 30,000 feet? "Excuse me stewardess... my son was just involved in a car accident. I need to get out here so I can get home right away." Come on. I know it sounds strange coming from a techie myself, but ban all the electronics all together - there is no REAL, "must have", need. If you have a real need for communication with some one, you just have to "reach out and touch someone"... Here's a thought! Talk to the people around you. Brush up on real inter-personal communication skills by actually talking with someone face-to-face.
Technology has gotten so prevelant that we're so "connected" electronically that we've forgotten how to connect personally to people. Don't believe me? How many of you out there in your offices right now have: 1) a phone at your desk, 2) a pager, 3) a cell phone, and 4) are reading this on the internet? Shut it all off and go physically talk to the person in the office next to you, by the water fountain, by the coffee pot, whatever. You'll have much more impact on peoples' lives face-to-face, and it's much more gratifying.
D
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The plane takes off and at cruising altitude, the wifi device secures a DHCP address from the plane's internal wireless Internet service. The terrorist now sees the device active from the Internet cafe adjacent to the airport, still on the ground, and triggers the device.
Except that a passenger must accompany every bag. And if that's the case, triggering could be done with a local radio device on the plane.
Another example of government obsession with control. Fast warrantless wire-taps, which you can be sure, will not be limited to just immediate terror threats (how would they even KNOW that there was 'terrorist' plotting unless they were listening to lots of private communications). Does this begin to sound like a fishing expedition?
How much communication would a suicide bomber need anyhow? And if they did, establishing a VPN, or using encryption, or code words would pretty much keep law enforcement out of the loop for long enough to get the job done.
People like to say freedom isn't free, typically referring to soldiers on a far off battleground. But freedom has a price at home, too. It cannot guarantee absolute safety. But the price of freedom is well worth the bargain.
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-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
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You write "Going to lunch in Israel or Palenstine is literally a gamble with your life, never knowing if a bomb will go off next to you"
This is definitely true in Israel since there have been 144 Palestinian suicide bombers since September 2000 who deliberately targeted Israeli civilians. It is not true about Palestine since Israel DOES NOT intentionally target Palestinian non-combatants and therefore Palestinians can go to lunch and sit in cafes without being afraid that Israel will target them.
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Providing they don't want to sit out after curfew!
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Jay Holovacs is right on the money! How long would it take to activate such a device? Would it be long enough for a federal agent to notice the device on the plane WLAN, determine it to be dangerous and to take some action? Not likely! Are agents going to be continuously monitoring all WLANs on all flights? Not likely!
So, aside from banning WLANs on planes, how does tapping plane communications do anything to neutralize such a threat?
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Precisely... it is not HOW they do it, it's the fact they do it in the first place, that is the problem.
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I would agree with most of the posts here. I think the government is once again overstepping its boundaries. I am not an expert on networking by any means but I think that locking down the network (e.g. requiring a username and password given out in flight) would be much more effective then any government agency watching which ip's are given out.
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Air travel is pretty much the last bastion of relative quiet. Cell phones should be banned. Go ahead and keep the air phones, executives who need to be in touch and can afford $3/minute can go for it. Wireless networks in aircraft? Why? We do not need 24/7 connectivity. I'm perfectly happy watching a movie or doing some creative writing, I don't often code while traveling (actually, last time my laptop failed to hybernate and the battery was flat when I tried to use it. VERY unhappy camper!)
EVERY piece of luggage is x-rayed on American flights, checked and carry-on. I don't see how this could possibly happen with that going on. Granted, the x-ray techs aren't always the brightest bulbs, but they see something as strange as a suitcase with VERY weird electronics in it, it'll be pulled and hand-inspected.
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[font="Arial"]Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it. --Samuel Johnson[/font] -
A few of you have ripped on the gov't for wanting to tap the WiFi communications of all airplanes. First of all, the article said they wanted to be able to /quickly/ tap the network. My guess is that the industry would never allow them to just have an open line to every plane, at all times. That would be too much data anyway!
But if they see something fishy going on, they could quickly tap in to poke around. I don't think that's unreasonable.Jereme had a good idea...requiring a login that is given out in flight. But that wouldn't stop the suicide bomber. So what's the answer? Just ignore the possible threat, at the expense of saving a few hundred lives, so we can have more assured privacy? Comon', its a public network anyway! Whoever expects privacy on an open WiFi connection is stupid anyway....
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Though I appreciate the "informational value" of this editorial, I wonder now if this will become just one more politically oriented message board. Stick to doing what you've done so well in the past: disseminating great SQL Server information.
Keep your political comments and paranoia to yourself.
Just my two pence.
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