On 7/29/2019 12:57 PM, Reco wrote: > Hi. > > On Mon, Jul 29, 2019 at 05:40:40AM -0500, Richard Owlett wrote: >> A concern is security issues. Bluetooth, being short range, may thus >> have an advantage. Speed is not an issue for my expected usage. (I was >> one of my ISP's last 6 dial-up clients ;) > > Both have their disadvantages in this regard. > > WPA2's (that's your conventional WiFi standard) secure configuration is > fiendishly difficult. > You have beacon frames that are broadcasted without any encryption. > You have authentication frames that can be intercepted (so WPA > passphrase can be bruteforced). > You have several encryption algorithms, but: > a) They are not equally good. > b) You may have a hardware that lack support for a good ones. > > They do have WPA3 that promises to fix all this, but ... you and I do > not have the hardware for it yet. > > > Bluetooth, on the other hand, is a security nightmare. > First, they got reasonable encryption in 4.0 standard version, and it's > optional. You have certain "profiles" that willingly elect to forbid > encryption. > Second, authentication aka "pairing" (which is optional too). In its > most common form authentication key is a four-digit number, with most > devices preset to four zeroes. > > > In short, nothing beats Ethernet in your typical household for > conventional computing needs. Smartphones and tablets may convince you > to use WiFi, but these devices are insecure anyway, so there's no loss. >
What about Powerline (PLC), any better then Wireless with regard to security? -- John Doe
