Hacking physical media

Physical Hacking

Any cabled network can be physically tapped. Any wireless network can be listened to using Wireless Wireshark or other types of radio signal receivers.

 

The only 2 choices for media are:

1.      “cabling”:

a.     copper (unshielded twisted pair (UTP) aka twisted pair)

http://sci-toys.com/sciblog/

Cat3   UTP	carries up to   10Mbps	for Ethernet 10Base-T
Cat5	100Mbps	Ethernet 100Base-TX
	155Mbps	ATM
Cat5e	1000Mbps	Ethernet 1000Base-T
		can extend Ethernet100Base-TX to 350m
Cat6	similar to Cat5e but better and more $$

Two-pair (four-wire) UTP  (for telephone use) is normally terminated in an RJ-11 connector.

Four-pair (eight-wire) UTP (for data use) is normally terminated in an RJ-45 connector.

b.     coaxial cable (aka coax)     

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaxial_cable

Pros: good enough/ cheap for short distances and internally

Cons: susceptible to noise, cross-talk, interference, lightning; heavy; (too) many different kinds.

c.      optic fiber (aka fiber)  

http://www.explainthatstuff.com/fiberoptics.html http://www.arcelect.com/fibercable.htm

http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&q=image+of+optic+fiber&btnG=Google+Search

http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/fiber-optic.html

Pros: very high transfer rate, less degradation so less need for repeaters, more resistant to noise, cannot be tapped into, lower maintenance costs

Fiber optic cables are not only thinner than copper cables, but they also weigh far less. A mile of fiber optic cable will weigh around 22 pounds, while a mile of copper cable will weigh a whopping 3,600 pounds. This makes a massive difference to the costs involved in handling and working with these cables.  http://www.doityourself.com/stry/pros-and-cons-of-using-fiber-optic-cables#ixzz0zxNqgQ2p

Cons: $$$ to install, does not bend easily, too fast yet

d.     electrical power lines

Using existing cabling used for electric power transmission.

Alternate names:  Power line communication or power line carrier (PLC), power line digital subscriber line (PDSL), mains communication, power line telecom (PLT), power line networking (PLN), or broadband over power lines (BPL).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_line_communication

2.      “wireless”

            WiFi

            WiMax

            satellite

            cellular

           

Protocol

What kind of protocol you put onto the media to run it? PROTOCOL MAKES THE MEDIA TRANSMIT DATA, i.e. without protocol, you have only “a piece of wire” and/or “some fresh air”. 

A good source of various pictures and “light” reading on many of the technologies:         

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet-connectivity-channel.htm

2008 info on speeds (many are still relevant):

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci214198,00.html

What do you want to connect?

1.      Connect to the Internet

2.      Connect to a remote site directly (e.g. office to office)

3.      Connect to a backbone

4.      Connect to form a backbone

5.      Connect into a LAN

Connect to Internet:

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet-connection-pictures.htm

Their pictures have actual physical devices needed.

Protocols:                            Running over media:          Owner of infrastructure: Speed:

1.      DSL                                 Phone lines (digital)             Phone company

      now: ADSL  8-10 Mbps

      coming: VDSL 52 Mbps

2.      Cable network                Coax cable (or optic)            Cable company                             ≤ 50Mbps

                                                                                                                                          (3 -10 Mbps)

3.      Dial-up modem               Phone lines (analog)                                                                  56 Kbps

4.        Cellular broadband         Cellular network                  Cellular companies                       1.5 Mbps                                      http://www.digitallanding.com/Phone/article_display.cfm/article_id/4482

5.      Wireless                         air                                         Clearwire, etc.                              1-20 Mbps

                                                                                                                                          Avg.3-6Mbps

6.      Fiber-to-desktop           optical cable                          Google, etc.                                   1Gbps

Q: Is wired or wireless better?

A: If you can have fiber, that’s the best.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/15/4226428/sony-so-net-2gbps-download-internet-tokyo-japan

http://highspeedgeek.com/america-gigabit-internet/

Google Gigabit Internet: 1Gbps for $70/mo https://fiber.google.com/about/

Otherwise, it’s a tie.

http://www.speedtest.net/wave/410f94bd64f34218

Cabled connections are not the fastest anymore… unless optical.

http://www.comcast.com/internet-service.html

http://www.oceanic.com/products/internet/features

http://qwest.centurylink.com/residential/internet/broadbandlanding/index.html

DSL pluses: get the phone line for emergency calls, always on, use the phone

Cable pluses: theoretically high speed – but the line is shared (and ISP will overbook most likely).

Phone line: analog gets converted to digital at the phone company central office (CO).

Analog phone lines use only 4KHz bandwith for voice – so DSL uses the rest.

House --- copper or fibber               CO -----optic (most likely)   backbone  -à POP[1] ….

                                                                                   most likely OC

House --- copper or fibber

      twisted pair   to T trunks

---

[1] fancy name for router, in the ISP context