Unauthorised Access: Physical Penetration Testing For IT Security Teams

8.9. Scanners

As you've seen in this book, there are all kinds of good things floating around on the airwaves. To recap, you're predominantly interested in:

• Wireless Cameras (5.8 ghz and 2.4 ghz) – Cameras are interesting because they represent an opportunity to turn a company's own security against them. By eavesdropping on cameras, you are doing precisely that.

• Walkie Talkie chatter – Site wide communications are rarely en-crypted and listening in may give you insight as to the location and quantity of security guards as well as other information.

For scanning cameras, you need a laptop with appropriate hardware and software or a dedicated handheld scanner with a wide reception range and a built in screen. Cheaper cameras such as nanny cams use the 2.4 GHz range, which is unlicensed (in the UK and US) and consequently is heavily cluttered with consumer technologies. Wireless (802.11b/g), Bluetooth and cordless phones all use this frequency range. Microwave ovens will interface with all of these devices to make things even more fun. A new(er) unlicensed band, 5.8 Ghz is taking away some of this clutter and a lot of new security cameras that use it are being sold. They're proving popular due to the erroneous notion that as they're not at 2.4 Ghz, they're more secure. They're not.

Shown in Figure 8.13, is a USB 2.4G Wireless Receiver available from www.chinavasion.com. From the sales blurb:

"This compact Wireless Camera Receiver uses USB to send wireless camera signals directly ...