Possible FLR Hacking?

[JesseK]

As for the DAP1522 placement: does it broadcast its signal like a typical antenna does? For those curious, current running in a loop creates a propagating magnetic field that DOES have polar regions. Thus, antennae always seem to work better when pointed up since the magnetic waves propagate tangental to the direction of current flow. Am I totall off here?

As for the hacking issue: go to arstechnica.com and read their 5-piece segment on how Anonymous hacked HBGary. They did the most damage via social engineering after they got some basic information via garbage data in URL's of the website (a database generates a webpage based upon these variables; if the database input isn't 'cleaned' before its used, then the database can be manipulated in various ways -- such as returning all of the user passwords). That FIRST changed our router this year is reassuring: there's less 'basic' information known about it than perhaps previous years. Yet there isn't even any brute force needed to crack the durn things if the WPA keys are left in the open (the social engineering aspect). I'm not sure if the keys are even given out to teams, or if they're on a clipboard on a wall, or were ever left unattended on a table. If they were, then there IS a SLIM (very slim) possibility that someone DID crack it. IF I were to try to figure out motive, I would say that it was hacking for fun, or more maliciously, hacking lower-priority targets in order to learn things that are useful for hacking higher-priority targets.

I'm not saying I condone hacking in any of its malicious aspects; I'm simply saying that if we're all better educated about it, we're better prepared for those with malicious intent. To think that it's impossible to do is ... well ... hopefully we're not THAT naive, with all of the quotes in signatures running around here about engineering feats that were once impossible.

[TD912]

I only read the first 2 pages of this post, but hacking the system is very unlikely unless someone managed to brute force the WPA2 keys, which is highly unlikely to happen during the limited time on the field. Another possibility is a person swiping the keys if they were written down somewhere easily accessible, which is possible but still very unlikely.

Still, the FMS should only allow data to be transferred between the specific IP addresses allocated to the Robot and the Driver Station. Even if a malicious person did have the WPA2 keys, I would think any additional devices connected to the FMS would be quite easy to detect.

A person would have to know a lot about how the entire communications system works. They would need to have the specific team's WPA2 key, know a way to fool the FMS, override the real Driver Station, intercept and emulate commands, figure out the controls to the specific robot, and pull all of it off within 2 minutes without being detected. Highly unlikely.

In any case, I'm >99% sure it was a field error.

[ChrisH]

Originally Posted by JesseK

As for the DAP1522 placement: does it broadcast its signal like a typical antenna does? For those curious, current running in a loop creates a propagating magnetic field that DOES have polar regions. Thus, antennae always seem to work better when pointed up since the magnetic waves propagate tangental to the direction of current flow. Am I totall off here?

As for the hacking issue: go to arstechnica.com and read their 5-piece segment on how Anonymous hacked HBGary. They did the most damage via social engineering after they got some basic information via garbage data in URL's of the website (a database generates a webpage based upon these variables; if the database input isn't 'cleaned' before its used, then the database can be manipulated in various ways -- such as returning all of the user passwords). That FIRST changed our router this year is reassuring: there's less 'basic' information known about it than perhaps previous years. Yet there isn't even any brute force needed to crack the durn things if the WPA keys are left in the open (the social engineering aspect). I'm not sure if the keys are even given out to teams, or if they're on a clipboard on a wall, or were ever left unattended on a table. If they were, then there IS a SLIM (very slim) possibility that someone DID crack it. IF I were to try to figure out motive, I would say that it was hacking for fun, or more maliciously, hacking lower-priority targets in order to learn things that are useful for hacking higher-priority targets.

I'm not saying I condone hacking in any of its malicious aspects; I'm simply saying that if we're all better educated about it, we're better prepared for those with malicious intent. To think that it's impossible to do is ... well ... hopefully we're not THAT naive, with all of the quotes in signatures running around here about engineering feats that were once impossible.

One of the reasons for the kiosks is to better secure the WPA keys. There is now no need for the field crew to print the keys at all. Instead they are loaded directly into the kiosk. It is possible to make a printout of them, but that would take a deliberate effort by somebody who knows what they are doing. There is little value in doing so just for kicks, so anybody who did so would probably have another goal in mind, which brings us back to "social engineering" (the current euphimism for espionage where I work)

[jtdowney]

Originally Posted by ChrisH

One of the reasons for the kiosks is to better secure the WPA keys. There is now no need for the field crew to print the keys at all. Instead they are loaded directly into the kiosk. It is possible to make a printout of them, but that would take a deliberate effort by somebody who knows what they are doing. There is little value in doing so just for kicks, so anybody who did so would probably have another goal in mind, which brings us back to "social engineering" (the current euphimism for espionage where I work)

At events I've been to in the past there were print-outs of instructions on how to configure the bridges which includes the teams key. The "new-style" bridges last year couldn't be configured with the kiosk so teams had to manually configure them. These print-outs often got pushed aside and could easily be lifted. I haven't yet been to an event this year so I do not know if the print-outs are still being given.

However what is to keep someone from bringing their own DAP-1522, walking up the kiosk and programming it with any teams key. After that they have a wireless bridge that gets them on the same network as the robot as long as they change the bridges static IP. I am not sure if the field would attempt to detect if this happens but I cannot think of a reason it wouldn't work.

The kiosks may be different this year but in the past there was no reason I could not enter another team at the events number and get their settings instead.

I am not suggesting anything happened, just pointing out that it is possible.

[ChrisH]

Originally Posted by jtdowney

At events I've been to in the past there were print-outs of instructions on how to configure the bridges which includes the teams key. The "new-style" bridges last year couldn't be configured with the kiosk so teams had to manually configure them. These print-outs often got pushed aside and could easily be lifted. I haven't yet been to an event this year so I do not know if the print-outs are still being given.

However what is to keep someone from bringing their own DAP-1522, walking up the kiosk and programming it with any teams key. After that they have a wireless bridge that gets them on the same network as the robot as long as they change the bridges static IP. I am not sure if the field would attempt to detect if this happens but I cannot think of a reason it wouldn't work.

The kiosks may be different this year but in the past there was no reason I could not enter another team at the events number and get their settings instead.

I am not suggesting anything happened, just pointing out that it is possible.

The field crews have been instructed not to print out the key lists. It is possible to do but there really is no reason to do so. While somebody could theoretically program their own DAP with a particular team's key, there are other measures in place to help detect this sort of activity. I will refrain from elaborating for obvious reasons.