NSA's elite hackers can hijack your Wi-Fi from 8 miles away

[Hum]

Attendees at the Chaos Communications Congress in Hamburg this weekend got a surprising rundown of the NSA's surveillance capabilities, courtesy of security researcher Jacob Appelbaum. Appelbaum, who co-wrote the Der Spiegel article that first revealed the NSA catalog, went into further detail onstage, describing several individual devices in the catalog and their intended purposes.

Alongside pre-packaged exploits that allowed control over iOS devices and any phone communicating through GSM, Appelbaum detailed a device that targets computers through packet injection, seeding exploits from up to 8 miles away. He even speculated the exploits could be delivered by drone, although he conceded that in most cases, an unmarked van would likely be more practical.

The brochure in question dates from 2007, suggesting capabilities may have advanced even further since then ? but Appelbaum left little doubt that he believes these tactics are still in use, and offered several instances in which he's seen them in action.

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[The Evil Overlord]

What routers they running? I barely get a signal in the next room :p

[xendrome]

I'm calling bull-crap. 1: Wifi is 2-way communication, so it isn't going to work over 8-miles away, since your wifi can't transmit 8-miles out.

 

Also here is a link to a bunch of these other "NSA" gadgets that are going around the net today/yesterday - http://leaksource.wordpress.com/2013/12/30/nsas-ant-division-catalog-of-exploits-for-nearly-every-major-software-hardware-firmware/

 

I'm calling photoshop on each of them. One thing that is super obvious on them is the first few are dated 06-20-2008, 06-24-2008... yet EVERY one of them has a date at the bottom right of 20070108, so someone obviously was lazy making the photoshops.... and on top of that, the use of Visio icons is obnoxious...

 

This is someone on 4chan or similar trying to spread FUD and get everyone all worked up as usual. I'm not saying the NSA doesn't have projects like this or devices. I'm just saying this looks like pure BS to me...

[Hum]

I want that wi-fi ! :woot:

[123456789A]

I also heard that the NSA can now intercept your AMPED WIRELESS!!!! from 800 miles away.

[Louisifer]

I remember watching a video on a 1 mile test for WiFi about 10 years ago, makes sense they can do 8+ now. :o

 

The setup I saw consisted of 1 guy with normal router and a guy up on a hilltop a mile away with a custom satellite dish for his WiFi antenna.

 

As long as 1 side can listen far enough and broadcast far enough the other side can still communicate just with higher latency. :)

[Phouchg]

I'm calling bull-crap. 1: Wifi is 2-way communication, so it isn't going to work over 8-miles away, since your wifi can't transmit 8-miles out.

 

I'd like to hold off judgment until all the facts are in. A high-gain directional parabolic can transmit wireless signal across several miles. Of course, the victim side cannot do so, but if they don't need to receive as much as transmit, there's a possibility still.

[FloatingFatMan]

Sounds very fishy to me... I'd like to know more about the physics involved as it sounds like they're breaking the rules!

[GotBored]

Maybe they use signal bouncers to extend the distance? Maybe they use something which is already in place as a signal bouncer.

 

This isn't a real feat though, some guys I work with haven't paid for the internet since dial-up days and been hijacking wi-fi from 2-3 miles away (so they say atleast) but they dont have the expensive tech which a government agency has available to them though.

[Skiver Veteran]

Am I the only one questioning why the distance is a big deal? I mean sure its impressive but I don't think I would be aware if someone was parked 20 meters away in my street never mind 1,2 or 8 miles away.

 

Also why "elite" hackers, can only specially trained "hackers" use the equipment for distance? surely the hacks themselves are exactly the same no matter what the distance, it's just the equipment you use that gives you the distance that matters.

[Tomoko]

I doubt it, I don't have a wireless router.

[thejohnnyq]

They can't hack Wifi from 8 miles away.   That is currently no technically possible.  I been ready all the write ups on this and several issues have over looked.   First is SSID confusion, as the number of SSID with the same name in a area would make it hard to target.  Second, if they were even able to access the Wifi signal, the device would not be able to transmit back.   Third, it would be easier to get the information from an ISP on the gateway device and access it via the internet connection as in most cases it has Wifi on it, and all traffic flows thru it and there is no real firewall to protect the device.  

 

Lots of fluff and FUD that is making good headlines.

[GotBored]

Am I the only one questioning why the distance is a big deal? I mean sure its impressive but I don't think I would be aware if someone was parked 20 meters away in my street never mind 1,2 or 8 miles away.

 

Also why "elite" hackers, can only specially trained "hackers" use the equipment for distance? surely the hacks themselves are exactly the same no matter what the distance, it's just the equipment you use that gives you the distance that matters.

 

Maybe the people whos wi-fi they want to jack into lives on a farm and the nearest public street to the farm is 8 miles away?

 

Yes, I don't see why they call themselves 'elite' hackers, if that's something they are proud to announce they can do. I'd say its basic hacking people interested in the field would learn when they are like 8yrs old.

[Bertch]

I call fake just because the very last device is called RAGEMASTER and intercepts the "red video line" of a VGA cable to gather the signal through "RF flooding".

[Sandor]

8 miles. Eminem lol'd

[Neonix1]

It's easy for NSA to be called "elite hackers" when they are using a government to force backdoors into each and every single technology that is innovated within the USA... Why don't they grow some balls and do it the proper way.

 

WIFI is reachable on as long distances you want, as long as you have a strong enough signal on one end.

I wouldn't want to live in the crossfire of that 8 mile wifi beam though. Migraines incoming.