Ryan Naraine posts on his blog that Silica was perhaps the "most scary device" at the 2007 RSA Security Conference. Silica is Aitel Immunity's palmtop tool that is able to covertly scan for open Wi-Fi access points and optionally launch hundreds of exploits at local networks. Silica runs Debian Linux on the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet and has 802.11 capabilities. Migration of the system to other hardware platforms is planned, as are capabilities for Bluetooth, ethernet-by-USB, and GPS, for automatic location identification.
The market for Silica is clearly penetration testing, not enablement of criminal hacking. From Naraine's article,
Aitel said Immunity is careful to do due diligence when selling its products, which can fall into the wrong hands and end up being used for illegal purposes. "We don't sell to anonymous users. We make a fair effort to vet buyers and know where the money is coming from and who we're shipping to," she explained.
Despite all good intentions, Aitel goes on to admit there is no way to guarantee units sold through proper channels could not fall into unintended hands.
A greater concern to me is that I'm guessing the hundreds of exploits are not proprietary to Aitel. Aitel's differentiator is in packaging them into a mobile and seductively easy-to-use, $3,600 platform. This is a convenience for large, legitimate organizations. However, there is nothing to prevent a determined hacker form purchasing a Nokia 770 in consumer retail channels for $360, and all to many exploits are already freely available to them. Now that's something really scary.
Q. Are wireless exploits scary to your organization?
Photo: from zdnet.com.
