WiFi Security Paint

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January 24th, 2009, 07:55 PM
nihil

WiFi Security Paint

The Japanese have discovered a WiFi security paint.

Quote:

So how does this new blocking paint actually work? Well, electromagnetic (EM) waves can only be blocked when a material's magnetic field resonates at the same frequency as the wave. The New Scientist says that wave absorbers are usually made from iron-rich oxides, but higher-frequency transmissions outstrip the power of iron to absorb electromagnetic waves. This is because the standard oxide coating has a maximum resonance frequency that is outstripped at 48GHz.
But Shin-ichi Ohkoshi's team at the University of Tokyo in Japan has now identified a new aluminium-iron oxide able to block waves with a frequency almost four times higher. They used a sensitive magnetometer (a scientific instrument used to measure the strength and/or direction of a magnetic field) to confirm that a powder of the new oxide can absorb EM waves of up to 182GHz at room temperature.

More here:

http://www.itworldcanada.com//Pages/...A-B2C4D89EE233
January 25th, 2009, 08:42 AM
t34b4g5

As long as i'm able to choose the colour of the paint then this is great.

Just a matter of time before someone stumbles upon a way to bypass it.
January 25th, 2009, 09:01 AM
oofki

Thats actually a pretty cool concept. You can paint all your exterior walls with with it to block it the signal from leaving your house or biz.
January 25th, 2009, 10:33 AM
nihil

Quote:

As long as i'm able to choose the colour of the paint then this is great.

My bet is that you can have any colour you like so long as it is grey or red. That shouldn't matter though, as it would be applied as a primer or undercoat I would have thought?

Quote:

Just a matter of time before someone stumbles upon a way to bypass it.

I don't think so, given that is a physical solution. Its effectiveness will be dependent on signal frequency/strength and the sensitivity of the receiving equipment.

:)
January 26th, 2009, 06:56 PM
coaxial.bluegrass

Interesting...rather ironic that a security solution would be physical rather than "technical," eh? Although it would require all sensitive info to remain within the walls of a single building and never leave, and there's always room for human error, but used along with other solutions it could be highly effective, it seems like.
January 26th, 2009, 07:51 PM
nihil

Hi coax~,

Quote:

Interesting...rather ironic that a security solution would be physical rather than "technical," eh? Although it would require all sensitive info to remain within the walls of a single building and never leave, and there's always room for human error,

Yeah, physical as in physics and chemistry, rather than IT software or even hardware/firmware.

As for the single building concept, that would not necessarily apply to a site, base or camp? You could always move stuff physically, create a suitable physical barrier (DMZ) or use "line of sight" connection technology.

It has been a while, and certainly after my time, but I think that line of sight is pretty much accepted in modern battlefield communications?
January 26th, 2009, 08:49 PM
D0pp139an93r

Directional antenna aimed at the Window?

$20 says that if this is actually implemented widely at least a handful of people in each office are going to be convinced it will give them cancer from the "buildup" of signals.
January 26th, 2009, 10:38 PM
nihil

Quote:

Directional antenna aimed at the Window?

I guess that it is antenna to antenna, but I honestly don't know the technology........way after my time :D
January 27th, 2009, 02:04 AM
coaxial.bluegrass

Quote:

Originally Posted by D0pp139an93r

Directional antenna aimed at the Window?

$20 says that if this is actually implemented widely at least a handful of people in each office are going to be convinced it will give them cancer from the "buildup" of signals.

Ha, I was thinking that...

I wasn't thinking in terms of a camp or site, but I suppose that would work...I was thinking more in terms of banking security than, say, national security, however.
January 27th, 2009, 10:27 AM
fourdc

One of my stints in the navy was working on UHF transcievers. We worked in a Faraday cage. That cancelled all inbound and outbound RF, EMI and static electricity.

It would be expensive to "wallpaper" your office with copper mesh. The paint or mesh isn't going to stop any leakage at the windows.

If you're building an office, just hardwire the damn thing, turn off any unused ports.
January 27th, 2009, 10:29 AM
nihil

Well,

The paint technology is based on absorption, a similar concept to the acoustic tiles on a nuclear submarine? so there is no possibility of build up. If anything, you would get hit by slightly less than in an untreated building as some of the stray signals and external sources would be absorbed.

If there were a build up, it would create background noise that would screw up your WiFi.
January 27th, 2009, 07:47 PM
D0pp139an93r

Quote:

Originally Posted by nihil

Well,

The paint technology is based on absorption, a similar concept to the acoustic tiles on a nuclear submarine? so there is no possibility of build up. If anything, you would get hit by slightly less than in an untreated building as some of the stray signals and external sources would be absorbed.

If there were a build up, it would create background noise that would screw up your WiFi.

We both know that... My point is that the average office worker is ignorant and paranoid.
January 27th, 2009, 08:23 PM
Negative

I smell "infomercial"... a cardboard box covered in that paint... if you suspect that your wireless network is being hacked, you throw your router in the box, and you're safe!

Reminds me of that "network security device" that was being marketed (in infomercials, of course) a few years ago; in essence, it was nothing but a switch to turn off the network connection to your PC in case you suspected you were being hacked :D
January 27th, 2009, 08:44 PM
morganlefay

Quote:

We both know that... My point is that the average office worker is ignorant and paranoid.

make these standard issue for the ID 10Ts ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_foil_hat

That way they will be easily identified

<snicker>

MLF
January 27th, 2009, 11:23 PM
nihil

Quote:

I smell "infomercial"...

I don't think so, this is just an academic POC at this stage by university types at that. I guess they might be fishing for research grants perhaps.

Quote:

My point is that the average office worker is ignorant and paranoid.

Which is a good thing. They should be nurtured like mushrooms............kept in the dark and fed bull$h1t :D

With current paranoia about global warming and greenhouse gases it wouldn't be too difficult to explain away a new coat of paint and "energy efficient" windows?

Anyways, who would say anything in the current economic climate? it would be more that their "jobsworth"........... literally.:deal:

To be perfectly honest I have not found the average office user to be ignorant and paranoid. Mind you, I can only speak of my European experiences.

Where they would probably get really p1$$ed off would be that it might easily prevent them using their mobile phones. :)
January 28th, 2009, 01:24 AM
Negative

I wasn't implying that those researchers would be after marketing their discovery in an infomercial. Billy Mays on the other hand... :)
January 29th, 2009, 09:02 AM
oofki

Actually I was thinking of something interesting. If this concept could be modified and used on electronics that are failing or being interfered with due to RFI maybe it could help if you smothered it with the stuff! haha!

I know the FCC mandates that an electronic device must have a certain tolerance for such interference but, it might be interesting to see what happens in that scenario?