sneaky_rupert

Just as an aside, a 14 dollar ham radio license is cheap insurance in case your power usage comes into question, and it is valid for 10 years. It grants you the priviledge of using home built equipment (legally), and the higher output power. I would much rather have that then run the risk of being fined (10,000 and up last time I checked), just in case, even though they are hardly enforced. And for the record, hitting someone with 50 watts of a microwave signal can cause eye damage. You'd better make real sure that it's a straight shot without someone in the immediate vicinity. As you go out further, it isn't an issue as much, because the power decreases logarithmically due to path loss. I think it is valid to point out the concept that a directional antenna is actually what extends the range, whereas the amplifier makes the radiated wave less susceptible to obstacles. To achieve something to the distance of 137 miles out of a 2.4GHz signal, I would be interested in knowing how high the antenna was to still get line of sight to the access point. After a while, the curvature of the earth would disallow line of sight if the antenna is not up high enough. The antenna I am using is a quad patch PCB antenna, which does about 12 DBi at the center of the 2.4GHz band, and 10DBi on the outside. If I use an old parabolic dish antenna, I pick up 10 DBi (optimistically), but more realistically, I notice about 8.5 DBi. The whole thing cost me 20 bucks...plus the equipment I pulled off of the roof when we moved into this house :-) I think that the price for amplifiers is outrageous. Sometimes I think people don't realize they are selling something easily made that has been around forever. You do incur a little bit of cost, but it is from using components that the microwave frequency wont interfere with their operation. The fun part is getting the amplifier stages to not interact with each other to keep your noise product down, heh

There is a big gray line as long as it has some valid use (white hat) your good just try not to pooint out the obvious malicious abilities (black hat) dont make it to easy on the script kiddies ;) I think the fact that he even raised that question tells me he is *at least* on the right track to getting the big picture here. I have no argument to your point, except for the fact that white hats are allowed to be malicious if stated in the agreement with the corporation they are auditing.

Which is exactly what I need help figuring out. Any suggestions? Sometimes you can see what kind of hash it is by looking at the first few characters. Can you post the hashed password?

Well yes, but easy cracking hard drive encryption is not really mainstream. I wasn't saying it was a NEW idea, but I was applauding his efforts to develop methodology to make a somewhat tedious effort a little easier.

A variation of that is a drink they have here in texas. It's called a "Royal ....". You get the idea.

They're right. With the encryption in place, it encrypts the whole volume...not just on a file to file basis. It looks like random data when it is encrypted. Good thinking though, when you think like that you cross from the realm of being a script kiddie :-). If you have more ideas like this, please feel free to share them with us! I always like to entertain new ideas like this. And who knows, you might stumble on to something that everyone can benefit from! I know I am always adding to my Pen Testing kit, or my overall understanding.

Yeah, the s79 is what I was reffering to. Thats an easy one....s79 is an antenna switch made by Skyworks Solutions. What it does is locks out the receive on the card while you are transmitting so it doesn't backfeed and overload the receiver with full power on transimit. Here is the data sheet FWIW.... http://www.skyworksinc.com/products_display_item.asp?did=612 This confirms that those blobs of solder are definitely your antenna.... Trace the middle pin facing the edge of the board and thats where you are going to want to clean your solder off and solder your connector in....if you still want to that is. If for some reason, it doesnt work out as expected, just resolder the blobs like they were before and you should be ok. A further look at the specs on the chipset reveals that the amplifier is internal....so while it was my mistake that the IC was an amplifier, it is, in fact connected to the antenna.

I was actually reffering to the really small chip by the solder blobs. We already know what the other two squares are.

I'm kind of on board with the "why bother" crowd, but I will explain for the sake of it. Here's how it works (from someone who develops software defined radio): The antenna: You cannot use an antenna for a TV because it is resonant for a different frequency bandwidth, and a horrible one at that. VHF broadcast is 55.25 MHz for channel 2, going up to 211.25 MHz for channel 13. UHF is 471.25 to 801.25 MHz. It would, theoretically work, because a 13 cm (the wavelength of 2.4 GHz) would definitely fit into that of a 6 meter (55.25 MHz) antenna, but it wouldn't likely be efficient. You are talking about bidirectional RF at the 2.4 GHz range. The antenna can be very small to work at that range, and most of the time, a blob of solder on the circuit board is good enough to obtain the RF signal, however susceptible to interference. Wireless cards are generally not shielded from stray signals (it looks like yours may), which is why the RF can be recepted on the board. We call that receiver ingress. So, what if it isn't an efficient antenna you ask? After a while, the impedence mismatch (in ohms, this case 50 ohms) can cause the transmitter to prematurely fail. There is no such thing as a 2.4GHz cable...just one in 50 ohms matched to the transciever and antenna's impedance. Not that it is a big deal for an extremely short length, but using a thin coax cable such as RG-8X for 2.4GHz is going to provide more problems than it is worth. I'd suggest RG-8 (Yes, different) for this kind of application if you are going to have decent length to the antenna. The connector: N-type connectors are really bigger than you need for this application. Why not go with a much smaller SMA connector? The circuit board: 1) The copper ring is most likely a grounding bar for the circuits it surrounds, not an antenna. This, along with (presumeably) a metal top, keeps out the stray RF signals. 2) The person who suggested the antenna location with the Red and Blue highlighting has it correct. (SordFish) Thats the antenna location. The dead giveaway is the 6 pin IC driving it. That appears to be a operational amplifier being used as a band pass filter configuration. If you have someone you can verify that with an o-scope, it might be worthwhile (You might be able to see it with a frequency dividing circuit, assuming you really want to do this. Thats pretty common connecting to the antenna. Or, I can tell you if you read me off the model number?? It's late, so if you see errors, take them with a grain of salt, please, and I am always up for corrections.

Exactly, no, like I said, I find it interesting. I learned something new, and defintely wasn't trying to call you out.

Hmmm...because I know some of those fans, 5 volts is not enough to even drive them to turn. That is interesting.

He uses a 5 volt source to run a 12 volt fan?

Hmm....maybe in an engine off condition. But when the engine is running, the alternator keeps it at a nice 14.4 volts. Edit: Fixed your quote box, Moonlit.

The way I would do it is by bypassing the Step Down Transformer, Bridge Rectifier, and Capacitors that make it into 12 volts anyway, but you are dealing with a slew of different voltages, mostly 12+, 12-, 5+, and 5-, so you have to tackle it carefully. A computer power supply takes a 110-120 VAC (or wherever you are in the world, probably 220 VAC), and converting it into a much smaller DC voltage. AC, and DC, as most of us know, are not the same. In some models for power supplies, it would work something like this: 1) step down transformer converts wall AC into small AC voltage (12VAC, or sometimes higher, see below) 2) bridge rectifier converts AC sine wave to only positive voltage. 3) Capacitors are put in parallel with + and DC ground to "smooth" the sine wave peaks, and ultimately get close to a flat line. 4) a Zener diode is often used to cap the voltage to 12VDC, elimintating the small ripples left by the capacitor curves, leaving you with a flat, 12VDC signal. 5) this is then run through a series of voltage dividers (resistance network) to attain desired 5 volt, and whatever other voltages it needs to to its job. Figure out how to bypass steps 1-3 that the power supply is doing, and you wont have any trouble. The Zener diode will take care (somewhat) of regulating the voltage to the needed rating, or, a 12 volt regulator IC (more likely). I'd also recommend a 1 farad capacitor (like they sell for amplifiers)for the power leads to smooth that voltage when you start the car. But be warned, if your power supply has a high wattage rating, and you plan to make use of all that, you're going to have to run a really thick power wire (id say 10 guage minimum) to make this work. Your battery drain will also be a lot, but this is definitely something that is doable.

Theoretically, a USB dongle key with a 1028 bit key (I assume you mean a Rainbow iKey) can be cracked, but you probably dont feel like waiting a couple of thousands of years to get it to enumerate. The whole point of the key is to provide something you have and something you know authentication. They do this for a reason. I have, however, done some rather interesting things with USB dongle keys just to fix them when their fragile little plastic shell cracks.