Insecure Wireless

David Willis replies: I had Robert Moskowitz's article in mind when I wrote that "the recent trickle of wireless security 'flaws' tends to center around unusual usage or bad administrative choices." Moskowitz doesn't say that WPA is flawed in total. Rather, he takes issue with one implementation of it, arguing that users shouldn't use preshared keys that are not truly random in lieu of 802.1x. Anybody serious about security is doing 802.1x.

I stand by my statement: Wireless networks, when properly implemented, are user-aware, device-aware and activity-aware. This beats the current state of the enterprise wired network, and I have dozens of clients who agree.

IP Robber Barons

I liked Jonathan Feldman's recent column on fostering technological innovation through sensible changes in intellectual property legislation ("IP Protection for the 21st Century," Oct. 28, 2004). However, there's one recurring problem that Feldman doesn't mention: theft of IP by bully.Here's the scenario: A little guy invents something that attracts the attention of a big company. The big company comes knocking on the little guy's door and asks the inventor to sign a nondisclosure agreement--and everything else you can think of--ostensibly to protect both parties. The big company then proceeds to steal the little guy's idea.

When the victim complains, the company is brazen. "Go ahead and sue us!" it tells him. "You don't have the resources or the time left in your life to do that."

In our case, it was a very large, brand-name company that treated us this way (over lunch). I've spoken to other "little guys," and their stories are strikingly similar. It appears that many mid- and upper-level corporate managers routinely engage in such strong-arm tactics, if only to keep their jobs.

John Dabnor
Managing Partner
Business Development Associates LLC

[email protected]

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