Wireless Security By The Gallon 216
prostoalex writes "The next effort to improve wireless security might involve a trip to Home Depot. Force Field Wireless sells buckets of aluminum and copped-laced paint designed to prevent the 802.11 packets from escaping the building, Information Week reports. The article also talks about the Firce Field's pitch to the government in order to improve the homeland security, but the only governments that got interested in anti-Wi-Fi paint were from the Middle East. According to the products page, they also sell the brush sets." Easier than wallpaper, or moving into an old house.
Re:Does this work at all? (Score:2, Informative)
Check out the story of Sir John Franklin, who tried to lead an expedition in Canada to find the northwest passage, back in the olden days. They found the party dead, having abandoned their ship, but they took ridiculous items with them, like an old dresser, instead of food and supplies that could have kept them alive.
The story goes they all went insane from the lead used in the canned food they were eating.
Re:What else does it block? (Score:4, Informative)
You have questions, I have answers. (Score:5, Informative)
A. Yes, to some extent. The metalic paint does effectively impede radio signals however, it is not 100% effective. Some signal may still leak through the paint also, untreated windows and doors will allow the signal to leak. None the less, signal propagation is greatly reduced by the paint, which was the primary reason for its development.
Q. What about cordless phones?
A. This paint will affect most radio signals including corless and cell phones, AM/FM radio, broadcast TV and more. The overall effect will vary depending on paint application quality, signal frequency and strength, as well as other factors.
Q. Is this paint a health risk?
A. Copper based paint, commonly used in marine applications, is a known health risk and environmental hazard. While there is little data available for aluminum based paints, there do not appear to be significant health risks at this time. This does not mean that there aren't health risks associated with aluminum based paints.
Re:Boy... (Score:5, Informative)
"TEMPEST was "invented" in 1918 when Herbert Yardley and his staff of the Black Chamber were engaged by the U.S. Army to develop methods to detect, intercept, and exploit combat telephones and covert radio transmitters. The initial research identified that "normal unmodified equipment" was allowing classified information to be passed to the enemy through a variety of technical weaknesses. A classified program was then created to develop methods to suppress these "compromising emanations". However, the actual acronym known as TEMPEST was only coined in the late 60's and early 70's (and is now considered an obsolete term, which has since, been replaced by the phrase "Emissions Security" or EMSEC).
TEMPEST and it's associated disciplines involve designing circuits to minimize the amount of "compromising emanations" and to apply appropriate shielding, grounding, and bonding. These disciplines also include methods of radiation screening, alarms, isolation circuits/devices, and similar areas of equipment engineering.
TEMPEST disciplines typically involve eliminating or reducing the transients caused by a communication signal and the resulting harmonics. These signals and their harmonics could allow the original signal to be reconstructed and analyzed."
Link:
http://www.tscm.com/TSCM101tempest.html
The idea is that EM fields generated my, say, your monitor can be intercepted and used to reconstruct what's being displayed on the screen.
Re:Is it as good as Stucco and plaster? (Score:4, Informative)
If you ever see it installed, they (usually) first staple up a thick metal mesh, which holds the plaster in place. Wood lath was the status quo in the really olden days, before steel became cheaper than hardwood strips.
Norm Abrahms goes wardriving in this weeks episode of This Old House!
Re:You have questions, I have answers. (Score:2, Informative)
Other options (Score:5, Informative)
There's Hospital Quality [rfi-ind.com.au] shielding done with aluminum foil, and more serious shielding [rfi-ind.com.au] of both E and H fields for MRI machines. I won't even go into the RF-sealed doors...
If you're concerned about magnetic fields, then Mu Metal [google.com] is the stuff. Just don't bend any of the Hydrogen-annealed variety. You can get sheet and tape [lessemf.com] in small quantifies from these folks, who by the way also offer "Personal Protection Devices [lessemf.com] (silver-impregnated fiber baseball caps, not tinfoil hats, please)
For sealing over the gaps, don't forget 3M 1181 Copper Tape [google.com], which features electrically-conducting adhesive, but only specifies 80dB isolation at 30MHz-1GHz.
But my favorite so far is Metal Foam [metalfoam.net], which reminds me of the almost weightless foamed glass Aerogel [nasa.gov] that was a announced a few years ago... Foamed aluminum is available commercially in 2x2ft sheets from from Austria, Alulight [alulight.com]. They claim 40dB isolation [alulight.com] in the 2Ghz range and over 100dB to 140dB [alulight.com] in the 10Mhz-1GHz range, plus excellent sound isolation, structural, and fire safety properties. What's not to like? Anybody know where the get this stuff in the US? Reade [reade.com] seems out of my range, but I'll ask them.
Homeowners be very careful with this (Score:2, Informative)
Asbestos was banned when fiberglass was available as an alternate solution to insulation. Fiberglass has been listed as a carcinogen in California. But I'll bet it won't be listed as a carcinogen in the rest of the US until a suitable replacement for it is found.
That's how environmental law generally works. When you have a replacement, you ban the old stuff. With lead paint, as bad as it is considered today, it was considered a premium product in its heyday. It self cleaned (sun shines on it, develops chalky surface, the lead itself, rains, washes off the chalky surface), it is far more durable than the non-lead paints that replaced it, lasts longer, and has other desirable properties. One problem: the kids eat the paint chips, or far more common, play on the floor, put their hands on the lead dust on the floor, then put their hands in their mouths. End up with a high lead level in the blood, which migrates inside the bones long term, causing brain damage as they grow up.
So lead was banned in 1960 in NYC housing and other areas, and banned federally in paint for housing in 1978. But was still allowed to be sold for 2 more years so the manufacturers wouldn't get stuck with a recall of stock on dealer shelves. What's the current situation? The lawyers are having a field day. The general procedure is, get the proof of blood test with high lead level result (mandatory blood-lead testing of children under 6 every year), attorney gets result, sends notice to property owner, notice says, notify your insurer that you received this letter of elevated blood-lead level poisoning, if insurance company is dumb enough to still be insuring you for lead coverage, immediate settlement offer, and dropping of homeowner insurance coverage (and resulting mortgage default for lack of property insurance).
Sounds like a
The manufacturer may tout the lack of lead. But copper is also a problem in the US. And aluminum should be a problem in the US, like it is a problem in Europe already. In the US (as probably many other countries), drinking water is tested not only for lead, but for copper as well. So copper entering the body is a problem. As for aluminum, it has been linked through studies on occasion to alzheimer's disease. That's why I avoid Rolaids and use Tums instead. And why I try to find (failing so far) anti-perspirants that don't contain aluminum. If copper and lead are problems, why not aluminum?
Long term, this paint is likely to be a legal problem for the manufacturer, and any homeowner who uses it. And any homeowner who buys the house later. The manufacturer can simply move his assets elsewhere, declare bankruptcy and continue business under a new name. It is the homeowner who lacks the proper financial tools, financial ability to protect against lawsuits, and the knowledge to prevent this liability problem who is going to get screwed in the end. And the kids who are on the receiving end of the paint chips and dust that eventually will deteriorate and become ingested by many innocent kids.
The instrument for surveying houses for lead paint costs about $20,000 with interest, is very expensive to maintain and keep working, and is difficult to possess under very restrictive licensing. Adding the ability to detect and survey aluminum and copper, without getting false postives on armored/metallic electrical wiring, copper pipes, and other false positives, fall within testing parameters established by governmental agencies is going to add tens of thousands to the cost. And that additional cost will be added to the survey cost to the homeowner, which is already at $250-$500 for an average 1 family house, and can run over $1,000 depending on how large the house is, and about $150-$200 per apartment when multiple apartments are done on the same day.
Re:Homeowners be very careful with this (Score:4, Informative)
fyi, Old Spice is aluminum free.