Bluetooth Range Hacking

[nulltone]

So somebody stuck an antenna on a bluetooth adapter. That might be old news to most of you. (http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how2/ar...714017,00.html)
So now people can connect to Bluetooth devices from a mile away.
Blue snarfing/jacking/tapping from a mile away? But, they didn't even put an amp on the antenna...then what? Bluetooth from five miles away? What experience have you all had with modifications to your Bluetooth setup? How much of a problem does this pose.

Also, apparently this will create alot of noise on 802.11 frequencies, essentially jamming any WLANs in its path. Now, I'm not entirely sure how problematic it is since Bluetooth is often low-bandwidth, but intercepting audio from a Bluetooth phone probably isn't all that low-bandwidth.

So really, how dangerous is a bluetooth hacker with high range capability?

[renderman]

Does'nt make them any more dangerous (except maybe increased cancer risk), the same attacks will work, but all you do is punch up the effective range and the anonymizing ability of the attack.

You no longer have to be right beside the target/victim. Just like with Wi-Fi attacks, you can be anywhere inside a very large area.

hmmm, I wonder if the next warpack should also do bluesnarfing....

[nulltone]

Well I figured the same attacks would work, but this makes all the concern over bluetooth much more valid. Before, range was the factor that made all these bluetooth exploits seem nominal in their impact. If I remember correctly, even the bluetooth talk at Defcon and BlackHat said that they could pickup the conversation within "a hundred feet". But now we're talking about over 4,000 feet.

In fact, this also raises the concern about bluetooth and corporate/government espionage. If a hacker sits outside an office building with a long range bluetooth setup, I am sure the threat is more of a reality.

[alklloyd]

Those presentations at DC 12 were a real eye opener. Never used Bluetooth, and I never will.

Al

[allentrace]

Those presentations at DC 12 were a real eye opener. Never used Bluetooth, and I never will.

Al

The Sucky thing about bluetooth is that companies now install in standard in many of your favorite electronic devices. Bluetooth also runs without permission on some devices. (damn PDA's)

[astcell]

If it runs without permission, or by default, isn't that potentially a law violation? I mean you can connect to a printer or a network not belonging to you just by walking by it!

[Cop]

i think that the threat is when they use it to make calls from someone's phone