bestbuy's wifi?

Veeb0rg · 03-24-2004

took my first wardrive tonight, dell latitude c810 and a dell 1150 card.

noticed the local bestbuy's has an open wap.

is the usual? anyone got the details on it?

Thorn · 03-24-2004

It isn't a hotspot, it's BestBuy being stupid. Again.

Search around, it's been discussed before.

King_Ice_Flash · 03-24-2004

Just to make sure you know the difference, a hotspot is a public access point. Best Buy's is not. Eventhough some people are stupid enough to put up a insecure AP, connecting to it is still illegal, unless you have permission (usually written) to use it. Even though it may be insecure, they may be tracking and logging, or someone could see you. It could get you into a lot of trouble.

G8tK33per · 03-25-2004

The last time I drove by the Best Buy near me they had 4 open access points...they're just ignant, it's not free.

Veeb0rg · 03-25-2004

well thats what i was asking, didn't know if it was a service for their customers or not.

i'm still going to look into wireless internet from my cell company *cingular* as i work 10 hours a night in my car and the 'net would be a nice thing to have.

G8tK33per · 03-25-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by Veeb0rg
.....as i work 10 hours a night in my car and the 'net would be a nice thing to have.

I think there was a guy in Canada that thought the same thing not too long ago, something to do with a laptop and the lack of sufficient clothing from the waist down...anyway...

..as far as Best Buy goes, not sure if the AP's are for wifi demo purposes or in house use. If they are connected similarly as some of their machines I've played with, the only 'internet' per se, is access to their own website. May have just been the machines I left interesting scrolling screen savers on...not sure though.

Veeb0rg · 03-25-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by G8tK33per
I think there was a guy in Canada that thought the same thing not too long ago, something to do with a laptop and the lack of sufficient clothing from the waist down...anyway...

..as far as Best Buy goes, not sure if the AP's are for wifi demo purposes or in house use. If they are connected similarly as some of their machines I've played with, the only 'internet' per se, is access to their own website. May have just been the machines I left interesting scrolling screen savers on...not sure though.

no i'll be staying clothed thanks.

The Others · 03-25-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by G8tK33per
May have just been the machines I left interesting scrolling screen savers on...not sure though.

Ahh... The classic trick for young and old a like.

You know, I hear that if you put that passworded screensaver in the startup folder, they find it very dificult to remove it

King_Ice_Flash · 03-25-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by G8tK33per

..as far as Best Buy goes, not sure if the AP's are for wifi demo purposes or in house use. If they are connected similarly as some of their machines I've played with, the only 'internet' per se, is access to their own website...

I asked a best buy employee that set up one of the local best buys. He says that the managers told him to set it that way. It was easier to set up the network without WEP. All they did was disable the SSID. They use these APs for the bar code scanners and the PCs around the store. They didn't use these for the cash registers. When I asked him if he knew that it was insecure, he said "Yah, I know, they are a bunch of *censored* tards. And if you want to know why there are so many insecure APs that customers own, you know why."

Thorn · 03-25-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by King_Ice_Flash
... They didn't use these for the cash registers. ...

The scary part is that they have used them for the cash registers before, and CC numbers were seen flying through the ether with nary an encrypted bit. Maybe they are just using them on the inventory scanners and the like now, but their past performance concerns me.

King_Ice_Flash · 03-25-2004

Yah, he said that they had a problem with wep and the scanners, but they shouldn't have anything else on the network then, but they would have to because the scanners have to communicate with something.

Thorn · 03-25-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by King_Ice_Flash
Yah, he said that they had a problem with wep and the scanners, but they shouldn't have anything else on the network then, but they would have to because the scanners have to communicate with something.

Many older scanner don't support WEP as they don't have enough processing power. When they're just talking to an inventory system, it's not a big deal. Many businesses run that way. Do they care if you know that they have 59 cases of product #236977936 in stock?

The problem comes with tying in the cash registers, usually in an attempt to have real-time inventory tracking. Suddenly the registers are spewing out all sorts of stuff besides stock numbers. Swipe a credit card through and your name, account number, PIN, etc., goes right across the airwaves.

There seems to be an assumption the "no one will know about this..." That may have been true in with earlier systems, where there was a slim chance of people have the equipment to read the frequency and encoding. However, with everyone and his brother having 802.11 equipment nowadays, it is a completely wrong assumption.

NinjaPablo · 03-25-2004

(speaking from personal experience, may not be true for all Best Buy's)

The Best Buy I worked at had these wireless scanners you speak of. They perform inventory checks, can print price stickers, and can manage shipments. They communicate with 1 of the 2 (I think) servers that every store has. This server tracks inventory, shipments, and the like. The other server is what the registers and employee terminals use.

The only time data is exchanged between the servers is during custom orders (big screen TV delivery, internet sign-up, etc), and when the registers sync up (usually every 15 minutes). The registers themselves never actually check the store inventory, they only report to the inventory server how many of a particular SKU/UPC has been sold.

The access point may also be at the Tech Bench. Many stores will use an open AP to test wireless cards that are returned to see if they are defective, or if they can be open-boxed.

Veeb0rg · 03-25-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by King_Ice_Flash
I asked a best buy employee that set up one of the local best buys. He says that the managers told him to set it that way. It was easier to set up the network without WEP. All they did was disable the SSID. They use these APs for the bar code scanners and the PCs around the store. They didn't use these for the cash registers. When I asked him if he knew that it was insecure, he said "Yah, I know, they are a bunch of *censored* tards. And if you want to know why there are so many insecure APs that customers own, you know why."

well this one i got a ssid of "BESTBUY" off it, so they didn't obviously disable it here

deepblue · 03-30-2004

hi all i work for a best buy in idhao and know all about the network since i work as a tech at the store

if any of the accespoints are linksys they are for testing purposes and testing only, to show off the wifi notebooks and the new wifi hp printer.

the scanners that some one had posted about use some werid 900mhz that is so so so slow o well

all bestbuys do have 2,4ghz accespoints that are used for in store use, they are only used on hoildays when we have mobile registers, the accespoints are cisco and have ssid disabled as well use wep, mac filtering, and then some sort of some user/pass that im not aware of

so if you do get web on a bestbuy access point it wont last for long best buy is anal about things on there network

if we plug a customers computer into the network to get updates or some software we get a phone call about 15 minutes later yelling at us, my store has been hit with this alot , the other techs are umm lets just say stupid

but to anwser the question in brief , if its a open network at a best buy you see its probally either
1) linksys for demo (or another brand)
2) a wifi printer
3) a notebook broadcasting in ad_hoc mode

03-24-2004	#1 (permalink)
Veeb0rg Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Glen Burnie, MD Posts: 8	bestbuy's wifi? took my first wardrive tonight, dell latitude c810 and a dell 1150 card. noticed the local bestbuy's has an open wap. is the usual? anyone got the details on it?

03-24-2004	#2 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,039	It isn't a hotspot, it's BestBuy being stupid. Again. Search around, it's been discussed before. __________________ Thorn "Lawyers should never marry lawyers. This is called inbreeding. It produces idiot children and more lawyers."

03-24-2004	#3 (permalink)
King_Ice_Flash Alien Paranoid Stumbler Join Date: May 2003 Location: WI Posts: 2,625	Just to make sure you know the difference, a hotspot is a public access point. Best Buy's is not. Eventhough some people are stupid enough to put up a insecure AP, connecting to it is still illegal, unless you have permission (usually written) to use it. Even though it may be insecure, they may be tracking and logging, or someone could see you. It could get you into a lot of trouble. __________________ "Yeah," said a voice from under the table, "you go to pieces so fast people get hit by the shrapnel."

03-25-2004	#4 (permalink)
G8tK33per Asshole Emeritus Join Date: May 2003 Location: S.E. VA. Posts: 5,913	The last time I drove by the Best Buy near me they had 4 open access points...they're just ignant, it's not free. __________________ "Benjamin is nobody's friend. If Benjamin were an ice cream flavor, he'd be pralines and dick." Sons of Confederate Veterans

03-25-2004	#11 (permalink)
King_Ice_Flash Alien Paranoid Stumbler Join Date: May 2003 Location: WI Posts: 2,625	Yah, he said that they had a problem with wep and the scanners, but they shouldn't have anything else on the network then, but they would have to because the scanners have to communicate with something. __________________ "Yeah," said a voice from under the table, "you go to pieces so fast people get hit by the shrapnel."

03-25-2004	#5 (permalink)
Veeb0rg Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Glen Burnie, MD Posts: 8	well thats what i was asking, didn't know if it was a service for their customers or not. i'm still going to look into wireless internet from my cell company cingular as i work 10 hours a night in my car and the 'net would be a nice thing to have.

03-25-2004	#13 (permalink)
NinjaPablo Unvisibual Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: West Michigan Posts: 91	(speaking from personal experience, may not be true for all Best Buy's) The Best Buy I worked at had these wireless scanners you speak of. They perform inventory checks, can print price stickers, and can manage shipments. They communicate with 1 of the 2 (I think) servers that every store has. This server tracks inventory, shipments, and the like. The other server is what the registers and employee terminals use. The only time data is exchanged between the servers is during custom orders (big screen TV delivery, internet sign-up, etc), and when the registers sync up (usually every 15 minutes). The registers themselves never actually check the store inventory, they only report to the inventory server how many of a particular SKU/UPC has been sold. The access point may also be at the Tech Bench. Many stores will use an open AP to test wireless cards that are returned to see if they are defective, or if they can be open-boxed.

03-30-2004	#15 (permalink)
deepblue Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 5	BEST BUY hi all i work for a best buy in idhao and know all about the network since i work as a tech at the store if any of the accespoints are linksys they are for testing purposes and testing only, to show off the wifi notebooks and the new wifi hp printer. the scanners that some one had posted about use some werid 900mhz that is so so so slow o well all bestbuys do have 2,4ghz accespoints that are used for in store use, they are only used on hoildays when we have mobile registers, the accespoints are cisco and have ssid disabled as well use wep, mac filtering, and then some sort of some user/pass that im not aware of so if you do get web on a bestbuy access point it wont last for long best buy is anal about things on there network if we plug a customers computer into the network to get updates or some software we get a phone call about 15 minutes later yelling at us, my store has been hit with this alot , the other techs are umm lets just say stupid but to anwser the question in brief , if its a open network at a best buy you see its probally either 1) linksys for demo (or another brand) 2) a wifi printer 3) a notebook broadcasting in ad_hoc mode

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