Protected WLAN

[JD]

On 05/19/11 21:14, Tim wrote:
> On Fri, 2011-05-20 at 12:19 +0900, Misha Shnurapet wrote:
>> Nope, if you're a plain user like me using an applet to "scan" you'll
>> only see what's broadcast.
> Nope, depending on your client, you'll see them all.  Even Windows did
> that.  You'd see a list of *all* transmitting access points, and the
> ones with the so-called hidden SSID listed as "unnamed."
>
> It really is bogus advice to hide it.
>
>       1. Clueless user follows bogus advice, falsely believes it makes
>          them safer.
>       2. Clueless user, then, finds things that they want to connect to
>          their WLAN, now, won't connect.
>       3. Clueless user has to ask for help.
>       4. Wastes all our time.
>       5. Slightly clueful user, now, starts to broadcast their SSID and
>          everything works fine.
>       6. Or, pigheaded clueless user continues to hide their SSID, and
>          continues to fight with WLAN and mailing list...
>
Tim, your points are way too generalized.
No one said not broadcasting alone will make you
safer. It is advised as part of the larger defense
scheme of choosing a strong protocol, a strong encryption
scheme, a 63 byte string, preferably random if user can
work with it, ...etc ...etc.
You keep harping about a point that is just one of several
to help individuals be as safe as possible, while keeping
things manageable.
You proceed on the assumption that
everyone who wants to connect to your wlan is a savvy
hacker with the right tools.
I do not think that that is the case.
Furthermore, all the postings of links  that show how
wpa2-psk/aes is easily broken is nothing but lies.
It takes hefty computing power, like a massively parallel
machine, and the right code breaking algorithms, which
are in the domains of highly educated researchers.
Gov has made it illegal to publish such algorithms, at least
in the USA.
As I challenged another OP: Show us a respectable scientific
publication showing that wpa2-psk/AES with a decent passphrase
was broken by a modern pc running windows or linux in a short time.
And please: spare us the youtube junk.