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« Wi-Fi Hits the Rails | Main | Wi-Fi Not Easy in the Big Easy »

August 12, 2003

Ramp up Your Bluetooth Anxiety

Now we have to remember to turn Bluetooth security on: Few devices equals security by obscurity. Millions and we have to remember to enable the features that protect us.

2 Comments

Apparently all the "Red Fang" tool mentioned does is scan for non-discoverable bluetooth devices by brute force. However, once discovered, it doesn't seem likely that a user of such a tool would be able to do anything with the found device unless it has a hardwired passkey. Such devices do exist and this is a vulnerability. However, I believe that the only devices vulnerable right now are headsets** - and letting the hackee listen to the hacker's phone calls doesn't seem like much of a benefit for the hacker. Most devices upon receiving a pairing attempt will prompt the user to enter a passkey - which has to match that sent by the source of the attempt - and so these devices would not be vulnerable to a brute force attack once discovered.
**the obvious fix for this would be for the headset to only allow pairing attempts if it is in discoverable mode. Can't say if this is true for current models.

"If the radio is on, the device will still poll around for other devices (if Discover other devices is on). this means the device transmits - and any transmission is visible. Nothing new here.

If the device is in non discoverable mode, it only means it'll not answer to requests for ID.

I went to a seminar about mobility, and for curiosity did a scan with my H3970. Found five mobile phones, but none of them accepted a connection.

I read about RedFang a couple of months ago, and didn't even bother with it, because the only thing it does is reveal the MAC address of any Bluetooth device around it. Nothing more (at least for now).

You can see the source code at http://www.securiteam.com/tools/5JP0I1FAAE.html and will notice that the author forced the MAC address to be in a range.

As you said, need owner's authorisation for pairing, then some models will ask for authorisation in every connection attempt, and some will only accept connections from a user-defined list.

I think the company wants to sell services and make the news"

(source freitasm)

It's funny to see this little article be re-posted on many websites elsewhere. It seems that people love bad news....what happened with the positive articles and/or news items?

Example: After Microsoft it's Apple and Logitech who will come with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Belkin comes with a Bluetooth Mouse.

;o)