[Discuss] Security

[markw at mohawksoft.com (markw at mohawksoft.com)]

At my work, here are a few vending machines. One of these machines has a
nice little antenna on it. Presumably, it communicates via cellular
network to the vendor in order to report on usage and supplies. Yes, good
idea. Cool.

It occurs to me that this machine, most likely, did not have to go through
any vetting. Not only that, I bet the grunts that stock these machines are
hired more for strong backs and no criminal record.

So, here we have a powered machine with external wireless connectivity on
the premises with no actual over site. It is there 24x7, powered!

Think of all the cool/evil things you could put in a vending machine with
a wireless link. Imagine having direct access to a Linux box in almost any
company you want. You could run any software you want. You could have
wi-fi too. Could you break the company's wireless security? Could you
monitor their wireless communications? Could you eaves drop on
conversations near by?

Everyone suspects the cleaning crew, and if you are interested in
security, you do background checks. Almost no one cares about the vending
machines.