Tunneling IP traffic over ICMP

We all hate it when we find an unencrypted WiFi network at our favorite coffee shop, restaurant, airport, or other venue, only to discover that there are traffic restrictions. Most limited networks allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic only, or so is the common misconception. In the majority of cases, ICMP traffic is also allowed, permitting the users to ping websites and IP addresses. You may be asking, “Ok, so why does that matter?” Well, all of your IP traffic can be piped through an ICMP tunnel, disguising all your surfing as simple ping packets. [Thomer] has a detailed guide on how to create and utilize such a tunnel using ICMPTX. So the next time you are at the local cafe and want to fire up VLC to watch TV shows from your home PC, give this guide a quick read.

Wireless electricity

[Eric Giler] has a talk available over at TED that discusses and demos delivering electricity without wires. Called WiTricity, these methods were developed by a team at MIT a few years ago who were working off of the concepts of Nicolai Tesla. The facts shared about our current energy delivery system are a bit shocking; we’ve spent over $1 trillion in infrastructure and produce more than 40 billion disposable batteries each year.

The demonstration in the video starts about 6:30 into it. At first we see a flat panel television powered wirelessly from about 6 feet away, then the T-Mobile G1 powered from the same distance. The thought of new TVs coming with WiFi and WiTricity standard would mean just hanging it on the wall with no cords to run. We can also image cellphones that have a battery only for backup purposes when you were not near a transmitter.

The power transfer occurs between two coils that resonate at the same frequency and only that frequency. This remind us a bit of Orson Scott Card’s fantasy communications device from the Ender’s Saga.

Cheap wireless for microcontrollers

Everybody loves microcontrollers, including the Arduino, allowing you to create whatever you imagine. That is unless you want to hack together something wireless. Originally you had to rely on the expensive XBee protocol or other wireless options, but no longer. Hobby Robotics found an extremely cheap transmitter and receiver and wrote a quick guide for wiring them up to an Arduino. Now your wireless projects can come to life, as long as you are within 500 feet and don’t mind 2400bps; minor trade offs compared to the gains of wireless freedom. Final note: You aren’t limited to Arduino, we would love to see someone modify this to work with a PIC or other microcontroller.

Keykeriki: wireless keyboard sniffer

Keyboard Sniffer Keykeriki from Max Moser on Vimeo.

Remote-Exploit.org is releasing Keykeriki, a wireless keyboard sniffer. The project is both open source hardware and software. you can download the files on their site. Right now you can’t get a pre made board, but they plan on releasing one soon. The system can be upgraded with “backpacks” or add on modules. One of these is going to be an LCD that displays the keystrokes of the keyboard you are sniffing. Another is supposed to serve as an interface to your iPhone. Right now it has the ability to decode Microsoft wireless keyboards, but the Logitech pieces should be added soon.

USB GPS

[Florin] was given the task of repairing a GPS unit that wouldn’t boot up. What he found was unfortunately a bad processor. Fortunately, he was able to make a project out of it. After scavenging the good bits, the GPS module and the LCD, he set about making it a USB device. He now has an EEEpc with GPS.

WiNet, wireless Arduino touchscreen

Liquidware has put together an interesting kit called the WiNet. It has a battery powered touchscreen controlled by an Arduino. Using an XBee shield, it can send commands to a paired XBee and Arduino attached to a computer. The computer can also update the touchscreen display. This is demoed in the video below. It’s a unique interface, but the TouchShield alone costs $174 so we’re guessing you’re going to be pretty damn confident in your project before you go this route.

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Criminals steal credit card data just by wardriving

A federal grand jury in Boston has charged eleven people with the theft of more than 41 million credit and debit card numbers from retail stores. What makes this case interesting is that, although the defendants stole the data from retail establishments, they did so without ever having to leave their cars; they stole the numbers while wardriving. While the report doesn’t make it clear whether the targeted networks used weak encryption or were simply unsecured, it’s obvious that the security of your data is still not a top priority for many companies.