Intel will be releasing a new mobile Pentium chip in early Q1; a ground-up redesign of the chip specifically for mobile devices that should allow laptops to run for a full day on current battery technology (i.e., a 600% improvement) w/ built-in Wi-Fi support (no additional card needed). I don’t have nor have I used 802.11b, so I don’t know the answer… but it would seem like a useful piece of functionality to have the card ‘poll’ for access, automatically alerting the user/owner when it had “reception” (much like a cell phone).

==> DRIVE-BY SPAM ATTACKS HIT WIRELESS LANs

The proliferation of unsecured corporate wireless networks is fueling a

surge in drive-by spamming, a security expert warned attendees of the First

International Security Users Conference in London. “These people simply

drive up to a building armed with their pornographic e-mail, log into the

insecure wireless network, send the message to 10 million e-mail addresses

and then just drive away,” said Adrian Wright, managing director of Secoda

Risk Management. With more ISPs instituting no-spamming rules, these

unsecured networks have become easy targets for would-be spammers. All they

have to do is find an unprotected SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol) port

on a company’s server and then pose as legitimate users of the network —

the mail server can’t tell the difference. Wright warned that between 60%

and 80% of corporate wireless networks are unsecured, often because

managers fail to change default settings when they install a wireless LAN.

The security hole has led to the new phenomenon of “wardriving” — driving

around a city until you find an unsecured wireless LAN — which leads to

“warchalking” — drawing a symbol in chalk on a wall or pavement to mark

the presence of a wireless networking node. And the practice isn’t just

confined to metro areas, said Wright, producing a photo of a warchalking

symbol drawn on a buoy floating at sea.

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