Wifi in Police Cars

[murakami]

Originally posted by highwizard
I know of over 12 departments who use it.

I'm just surprised that the infrastructure exists to support continuous wifi coverage.

Right now, the industry is just talking about hotspots and the carriers seem to only have cellular modem solutions for mobile applications. It seems were all just waiting for 3G to be implemented.

[astcell]

I wish 3G was available. The US is really losing ground as far as communications speed.

I know a city or two that is small enough to offer wi-fi throughout, they just tss up antennas on every street corner (all three of them). Must be nice.

[highwizard]

Originally posted by murakami
I'm just surprised that the infrastructure exists to support continuous wifi coverage.

Right now, the industry is just talking about hotspots and the carriers seem to only have cellular modem solutions for mobile applications. It seems were all just waiting for 3G to be implemented.

Locally we found issues with Cell Modems

[blackwave]

... speak of the devil...

LA Police Build Wireless LANs
Station hot spots will update cops with Symbol's handhelds.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,109945,00.asp

[MrYowler]

Wireless crimefighting...

We are just starting to see wireless deployments in the 900Mhz spectrum, to carry network data. This spectrum offers more range, and non-line-of-sight coverage, which is particularly appealing to sherriff offices in rural areas - and equipment cost is low, compared to licensed-spectrum equipment, because the equipment is in commercial production and used for non-emergency-service purposes. The low cost is also attractive to underfunded rural communities, trying to keep up, technologically, with the urban areas. Radio range usually runs reliably up to three miles from the access points, and on occasion, as far as slightly over six miles - in non-line-of-sight conditions, and with an (admittedly high-gain) isotrophic base station antenna.

Like most "secure" wireless network systems, most of these devices rely principally upon higher-level protocols than the wireless link protocol, for user or station authentication and payload encryption. Since these systems are often being deployed by undertrained and underpaid contractors or public service employees, the higher-layer security protocols are often not implemented, or are implemented poorly. Moreover, these wireless systems tend to have clearly visible spectral footprints, noticeable with comparitively cheap 1Ghz spectrum analyzers.

Lots of interesting stuff can be picked up on these systems, if you are of a mind to do so - and your receiver need not transmit back into the network, in order to examine the interesting traffic. Even if you do transmit back into the network, it is often fairly trivial to adopt the MAC address and identity of another station, and function effectively in tandem with that station, for as long as it remains online - inserting traffic as if you were the other station, while it is idle, and capturing traffic destined for any station associated with the access point that you are connected to. These devices typically act a lot like wireless 'hubs', except that they are ineffective at identifying collision conditions - instead, they try to process the packets as though they were somehow valid, often leading to interesting and clearly unintended results. They also generally lack the sophistication to isolate or locate an individual remote station, piggybacked or otherwise.

While these are capabilities which could easily be implemented using colocated equipment and software, most of these rural law enforcement agencies lack the resources and training to do so. Evil stuff, particularly if you happen to be in, say Humbolt County, growing marijuana, and examining network traffic giving you general locations (which access point the squad car is associated with, for example) and activity information about the deployed officers...

Just to add insult to injury, the lack of effective controls at either layer 2 or layer 3, open up a wide range of DoS tactics. Let's hope that these guys never allow themselves to become dependent on these systems for voice communications with the station dispatcher...

I know how you guys love my editorials, so I'll refrain from expressing opinions about the morality of these potential activities - but I will point out, in agreement with those who have come before (and to cover my own ass!), this sort of application would undoubtedly be very illegal, and would be likely to piss off law enforcement types, all over the place, in ways that resemble poking a hornet's nest with a burning stick. Bad juju...!



Some more amusing side notes...

The access points often come with serial console ports, accessible from the access point chassis. These devices (both access points and remotes) are also typically equipped with rudimentary remote shell access and/or SNMP1 management systems, permitting an attacker to take administrative control of remote/s and/or access points, by simply sniffing and waiting for an authorized user to appear on the network, authenticate, and leave. Having witnessed the session, unencrypted (since higher-layer cryptographic defenses would be near-impossible for the using organization to implement, in the radios themselves), the attacker now bears the authentication keys required to take control of the radio, as if they were that user.

Oh, the evil that men do... This is why Intel disclaims responsibility for the use of most of their products, in life-support equipment - I'm guessing that it never even occurred to the engineers, that these radios might be deployed for emergency services support functions... :)

[murakami]

I noticed something new and interesting at an airport this week. Wireless omni directional antennas, probably in the 900 mhz range were sitting on top of newly installed xray (CTX) machines.

Kinda struck me as weird because they had to install wiring for the new scanners, so what was the point of having some kind of wireless connection? Moreover, why an omni antenna. Looked like a real half-assed job to me.

[GackMan]

i read an article (trying to dig up a link to it) on the resurrection of the ricochet network...

one of the cost savings they were trying to negotiate was to allow all the police cars in (Denver?) to use their wireless network for free in exchange for the city allowing them to re-activate all the antennas on the light poles around the city.

Oh – and a guy a knew, on the way back from band camp, wardrove I-5 and every CHP outpost in Northern California had a wifi signal coming out of it...

[ck3k]

Originally posted by GackMan


Oh – and a guy a knew, on the way back from band camp, wardrove I-5 and every CHP outpost in Northern California had a wifi signal coming out of it...

I have also seen this, In my logs there are several listed, I will try and get the ssids.

[rol1]

CDPD is what the UPS guy's tablet does. It's a digital carrier on the amps cell phone network.

The old blurbs from attwireless claimed coverage of 95% US population.

Used to cost $60 a month for 24/7 at around 14k real, claimed 19k. I think I've seen cost drop to $40.

[ghosthunter007]

Police Wireless

I do know in the bay area the police use Ricochet wireless modems, using a vpn to the stations.

In fremont they have this festival call arts and wine

The Police department lets you check out the technology and most of the equipment.

But I also seen a reciever other than Ricochet under the dash of the car, Stamped Global

I take it that is the GPS for the car.

Ghosthunter

[test]

Police Cars Using 802.11

Was cruising down I95 to from jersey to dc running ye kismet and I would get a hit on kismet with every state cop I would pass. It actually became a crude radar detector. They are probally using wireless for an Accident Reporting System, That way when they pull into the station they can upload all of thier data. It is interesting. Also, most NJ State Police barraks have an SSID of NJPD with no Wep turned on. Pretty scary.

[rusty]

Suspected Police With Wifi

I live in an apartment complex.

One day I left kismet running, and I picked up a new ssid.
There happened to be a police car filing a report outside.

A few days later, kismet is running..... again.
The same ssid pops up. A I look out my back door and see that different police car is outside.

I'm wardriving, and the same ssid pops up again.
I see a police car on the side of the street.

On another drive, I pass a police car. Again the same ssid.
I see this ssid pop up from time to time. Sometimes the same MAC in different locations. This happens often.

Total MAC'S Found 9
the ssid: Barney
Mac fingerprint indicates that they are using Symbol Equipment
The Cards are all set to ADHOC

If it isn't that the police have wifi in their cars then it's an awfully strange coincidence.

The area: Mesa Arizona

[Splatter]

Well this thread intreaged me to drive my my local pd... and guess what they are running a wifi network between there cars and the station.

ssid was XnetBIGO01
wep enabled
linksys base stations
and a verity of client hardware

i also found quite a few new APs, I am gona have to get a gps unit now :()