Hackers show off long-distance Wi-Fi radio proxy at DEF CON

A talk about a radio-based privacy device dubbed ProxyHam that promised to allow hackers to connect to Wi-Fi networks from as far as 2.5 miles away was abruptly pulled from the DEF CON schedule by its creator a few weeks ago.

The incident, which some speculated was the result of pressure from the FBI or the NSA, outraged the security community. But as hackers are not the type to give up easily, they quickly came up with a replacement that in many respects is better than the original.

Called HamSammich, the new device is the creation of security researchers Robert Graham and David Maynor and can proxy data over the 900 Mhz radio band from 20 miles away at up to 56kbps—the top speed of a dial-up modem from the late 1990s. It was presented at the DEF CON hacking conference on Friday.

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