MIT Researchers Defend Against Wireless Attacks 65
alphadogg writes "MIT researchers have devised a protocol to flummox man-in-the-middle attacks against wireless networks. The all-software solution lets wireless radios automatically pair without the use of passwords and without relying on out-of-band techniques such as infrared or video channels. Dubbed Tamper-evident pairing, or TEP, the technique is based on understanding how man-in-the-middle attacks tamper with wireless messages, and then detects and in some cases blocks the tampering. The researchers suggest that TEP could have detected the reported but still unconfirmed cellular man-in-the-middle attack that unfolded at the Defcon conference earlier this month in Las Vegas."
Nope (Score:3, Insightful)
Anything a legit user can do a MITM can do better.
This "all-software" solution is either bullshit, or relies on pre-shared keys (be they specific keys or hardware-derived).
Without keys / hardware, there is absolutely nothing a legit user can send out that a MITM can't.
Very poor summary (Score:5, Insightful)
you miss the point (Score:5, Insightful)
The client sees the "lie", and doesn't trust either of the offers because it isn't sure which is real.
Based on this, it's possible to DOS a router by sending out connection offers, but you can't do a MITM attack.