rudis dot net

Highly portable routers are nothing new. Apple's Airport Express is a good example of a compact device which seamlessly bridges wi-fi and ethernet with an admin interface almost anyone can use. It's disruptive - small enough to conceal anywhere - but it has a drawback - it requires a physical power connection. It's also limited to wi-fi rage in terms of wireless connectivity.

Enter CradlePoint and their new PHS300 Personal Hotspot, an 802.11b/g access point with the ability to pair with a cell phone for 3G or utilize a USB 3G modem for internet connectivity. While interesting, those features alone do not make the device noteworthy. The killer feature of this package is the lithium ion battery which can power the whole setup. A truly portable wireless internet connection that will let you provide wi-fi to all the other folks stuck on I-5 during the AM/PM rush hour periods.

While the device is cool, I'm interested in a slightly altered configuration where it's a 3G to ethernet bridge with the same battery. Make the configuration/administration simple enough and you've now got a way for anyone to setup remote access into their organization and completely decimate security and network integrity. Great tool for consultants who want to still be there once their contract is up. It's also a great tool for corporate espionage.

NAC (network access control) may be able to save you from this one, if you implement an in-stream solution and have all of your static device assignments up-to-date and restricted to certain protocol profiles. Full network monitoring may help as well, provided you have a comprehensive understanding of all your connection and protocol usage baselines. I know my current and previous corporate network would not be safe from such a device.

If the box I've proposed is made and used on your network, how will you detect it? What will you do to protect your information assets? What tools are out there to help or what do we need to build in order to respond to this new "weapon".

(via MacNN)