Of course, a major problem with that approach is that the “persons of interest” are long gone by the time the video shows that “yep, you can defiantly see some guy cutting off that lock and stealing that…”.

Another problem is that unless the equipment is being checked on a regular basis, it may be defeated (or just broken) for a long time before any problems are identified.

In the photo to the right, a NYC artist William Lamson, has created an interesting photo of hacking (or blocking) a security camera with a helium balloon. This is such a simple and inexpensive attack on the video surveillance camera that I am shocked I haven’t seen this before. I am also certain that the appearance of this in a TV or movie plot is imminent. It would have been pretty simple to use two balloons to block the camera without providing the nice tether to “fix” the problem.

Digital photography is a hobby of mine, and I have a mild obsession for photographing physical security faux pas (which to date has not resulted in any ‘Imperial Entanglements’ ). So I am going to use Mr. Lamson’s photo to kick off a new category (and series) on Art of Information Security, called “Security faux pas” - stay tuned…

Cheers, Erik

Coming Soon to a Movie Plot Near You…

Who doesn't remember the cone of silence from the original Get Smart TV series.  Whenever Max and the Chief had something important to discuss they would lower the cone of silence so that no one else could hear them or eavesdrop. So it is only fitting with the recent release of the Get Smart movie, Meru Networks has released a wireless cone of silence.

Meru is one of few stand alone wireless companies still hanging on out there.  So they need to be innovative to survive.  Their latest product, RF Barrier puts antennas around a physical plant to dampen and make it impossible to to listen in on wireless data exchanges.  They claim this is a first of its kind.  Thinking about it though, I don't see a big barrier to other companies having similar technology. I don't think you have to be a genius to broadcast traffic that puts out "noise" to hide legit traffic. I think the real special sauce is that this works in conjunction with Meru's other security products like wireless firewalls and secure access points.

With Motorola's recent purchase of AirDefense is having wireless IPS soon going to be table stakes in the wireless provider game?  I think it is and while Meru's RF barrier is a nice story, they are going to need to have some sort of IDS/IPS in their product line to keep up.

Who doesn't remember the cone of silence from the original Get Smart TV series.  Whenever Max and the Chief had something important to discuss they would lower the cone of silence so that no one else could hear them or eavesdrop. So it is only fitting with the recent release of the Get Smart movie, Meru Networks has released a wireless cone of silence.

Meru is one of few stand alone wireless companies still hanging on out there.  So they need to be innovative to survive.  Their latest product, RF Barrier puts antennas around a physical plant to dampen and make it impossible to to listen in on wireless data exchanges.  They claim this is a first of its kind.  Thinking about it though, I don't see a big barrier to other companies having similar technology. I don't think you have to be a genius to broadcast traffic that puts out "noise" to hide legit traffic. I think the real special sauce is that this works in conjunction with Meru's other security products like wireless firewalls and secure access points.

With Motorola's recent purchase of AirDefense is having wireless IPS soon going to be table stakes in the wireless provider game?  I think it is and while Meru's RF barrier is a nice story, they are going to need to have some sort of IDS/IPS in their product line to keep up.