Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Defcon 12's Fear and Hacking in Vegas

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 06 Aug 2004 13:29:07 -0400

Defcon 12's Fear and Hacking in Vegas

August 2, 2004

By:
Humphrey Cheung

Summary:
Hackers converged on the Alexis Park Hotel in Las Vegas for the 12th
annual Defcon hacker convention. This may be the single venue in the
world where hackers and hard-core federal marshal types convene to
exchange ideas, listen to talks and discuss how exposed we really are.

Bluetooth Vulnerabilities
Hackers have found many flaws with Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
devices. As these devices gain in popularity, the public needs to be
made aware of vulnerability issues with the various Bluetooth devices
such as phones, PDAs and Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. headsets.

Three of the most interesting attacks were Bluesnarfing, Bluetracking
and Bluebugging. Bluesnarfing is attacking the Bluetooth device, usually
a phone, to rip out information. Hackers can obtain phonebooks,
calendars and stored SMS messages.

Bluetracking is tracking a person's movement by tracking their Bluetooth
device. All Bluetooth devices have a unique address, similar to a MAC
address on computer network cards. By using special sensors or antennas
you can see where a particular Bluetooth device pops up and record a
person's movement. [an error occurred while processing this directive]
Bluebugging involves sending executable commands to the Bluetooth
device. With the proper Error! Hyperlink reference not valid., you could
secretly turn on a phone and make it call you. Why is this important?
You have just turned the phone into a listening device that can record
without your target knowing it.

BlueSniper
When the Flexilis team walked in with their BlueSniper Bluetooth sniper,
everyone wanted to know what this evil looking contraption could do. It
looks like a mutant cross between a sniper rifle and Ghostbusters
particle canon, complete with nuclear backpack. Thankfully, it is a very
simple device that can do one thing well: find and attack Bluetooth
devices from far away.

The BlueSniper is a rifle stock with a scope and yagi antenna attached.
A cable attaches the antenna to the Bluetooth card, which can be in a
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. or Error! Hyperlink reference not
valid. computer. The laptop can be carried in a backpack with the cables
connecting into the backpack, giving it the Ghostbusters look.
The Flexilis teams demonstrated the gun with some home-brewed Bluetooth
scanning software. They pointed the gun down the hallways and out
windows. Almost instantly, vulnerable phones with their unique Bluetooth
device numbers appeared on the laptop screen. The device is powerful
enough to detect devices through building walls.

Video Interview

Here is a downloadable interview with the Flexilis team that designed
the BlueSniper Bluetooth rifle
Video - 14.9 MB - 3 Minutes 16 seconds
http://www.tomshardware.com/business/200408021/images/bluesniper.zip

http://www.tomshardware.com/business/200408021/defcon-05.html