Wi-Fi Blocking Paint

Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:39PM EDT

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My wireless network is very protected, thanks to my husband who takes plenty of preventive measures that keep intruders out of our network. The Gadget Hound also taught us a thing or two about the subject in this post, in which a reader's concern prompted him to ask more about Wi-Fi scamming. If you haven't changed the default name and password on your network, you're contributing to your network's susceptibility to malicious attacks, so don't be surprised when intruders—either neighbors or strangers parked outside your home—bog down your network with spam, or illegal downloads. Like Tom said, the best way to keep those intruders out is by enabling WEP or WPA encryption on your network by changing the password on your router. Chris has a step-by-step guide on how to do this too.

SEC Technologies has another option: wireless blocking paint. One coat of this paint "creates an electromagnetic fortress by preventing airborne hackers from intercepting signals." Sounds a little too much like something the government would be interested in, and less like a technology that would benefit the average Wi-Fi user who has already ditched the landline over a cell phone. The Register thinks the RF-proof paint would be put to good use in movie theaters, or similar places where cell phones interruption is frowned upon. EM-SEC currently sells laptop inserts and phone holsters with an electromagnetic shield that restricts the detection of Wi-Fi signals, which is another option that might deter laptop thieves. What a great idea.

 

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  • 26 Posted by impulsebullet on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:23PM EDT Report Abuse

    LoL thats the silly-est idea I've ever heard! If some knows how to hack wirelesly, i bet they can simply tap into your "internet source" such as a cable or dsl or even a phone line and just monitor you from there, cant they? Hmm... Lead Blocks radio waves of all kinds... that "technology" has been out for a long time its called lead paint which is bad for humans.

  • 27 Posted by bucknellbucky on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:15PM EDT Report Abuse

    I heard somewhere that some government buildings that host divisions that deal with sensitive information actually spray a fine metal onto windows and run an electrical current through it, since electromagnetic waves cannot penetrate an electrical field (there's a name for this phenomenon somewhere).

  • 28 Posted by omikirtzz2 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:45PM EDT Report Abuse

    thats how business works they just want to to buy something that looks useful.

  • 29 Posted by rattayg on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:29PM EDT Report Abuse

    #6 is right...you'd probably need copper shielding or the like to protect the waves from getting out, and for this "paint" to work, you'd need to paint the outside of your house...pretty pricey, even if it's not wi-fi blocking paint.

  • 30 Posted by tris_85 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:21PM EDT Report Abuse

    The idea of RF shielding in movie theaters is both in my opinion, a good and bad idea. A good idea for the simple fact that it would most likely prevent rude people from using their cell phones in movies and disrupting others. Now if a company can think of a way to make people shut up during the movie or stop messing with their candy wrappers or chewing their popcorn loudly, then we're in business. I think it may be a bad idea as well because it cuts some peoples communication off from the rest of the world. For example, lets say a couple went off to the movie while a babysitter watched their kids at home. What if something happened to their children and the babysitter or someone else was trying to contact them about a situation. Well, with RF shielding noone would be able to get through to them about a possible emergency. So hopefully movie theaters will just become more and more strict about cell phones in the theaters.

  • 31 Posted by tris_85 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:21PM EDT Report Abuse

    The idea of RF shielding in movie theaters is both in my opinion, a good and bad idea. A good idea for the simple fact that it would most likely prevent rude people from using their cell phones in movies and disrupting others. Now if a company can think of a way to make people shut up during the movie or stop messing with their candy wrappers or chewing their popcorn loudly, then we're in business. I think it may be a bad idea as well because it cuts some peoples communication off from the rest of the world. For example, lets say a couple went off to the movie while a babysitter watched their kids at home. What if something happened to their children and the babysitter or someone else was trying to contact them about a situation. Well, with RF shielding noone would be able to get through to them about a possible emergency. So hopefully movie theaters will just become more and more strict about cell phones in the theaters.

  • 32 Posted by angel_demirev on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:54PM EDT Report Abuse

    Cool. But if you painted your house that could also prevent you from accessing the wireless network. I think its easier just to hide the network.

  • 33 Posted by angel_demirev on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:54PM EDT Report Abuse

    Cool. But if you painted your house that could also prevent you from accessing the wireless network. I think its easier just to hide the network.

  • 34 Posted by bwatsonsantamonica on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:15PM EDT Report Abuse

    I'm glad to see that lead pain and lead glass has made a come back. My network is wide open.. Free the Net and do these people know that lead paint was outlawed?

  • 35 Posted by moe_alatt on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:24PM EDT Report Abuse

    o man i am i am screwed no more high speed internet 4 me. JK i dont do that.

  • 36 Posted by scubak1w1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:10PM EDT Report Abuse

    what about a doctor, say, visiting that movie theatre, concert hall, private house, etc that misses that emergency page or cell phone call - and his patient dies or some such because he doesn't get that call... some opera house have built the equivalent of a Faraday Cage into their structural concrete, but they have a cell phone check for doctors and so forth - and BIG signs telling them to use the check in system...

  • 37 Posted by boss_of_tiger_bot_hesh on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:11PM EDT Report Abuse

    You guys think these wi-fi articles have anything to do with the fact that yahoo is partnering with sbc to offer dsl? Who loses in that deal, eh?

  • 38 Posted by rebeccahill27 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:33PM EDT Report Abuse

    And to think, the car parked outside for 3 days was the cause of my lag, who would have thought.

  • 39 Posted by kachorroec on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:46PM EDT Report Abuse

    Encryption? Anyone? Quite a few signals in my neighborhood are not encrypted and you are gonna paint instead of just setup an encrypted signal? What are they gonna come up next to get our money?

  • 41 Posted by advant007 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:46PM EDT Report Abuse

    My cell phone has worked fine in every theater I've ever been in, and I know from my electronics education that it is very difficult to shield radio frequencies -- they have better penetration than Ron Jeremy. Hold your cell phone inside a metal clothes dryer or your refrigerator and you'll probably see no change in the signal strength. My take on the Wi-Fi paint? It's ALL WET!

  • 42 Posted by drumafunka on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:48PM EDT Report Abuse

    "how green is this paint"? What a nerd. Do you drive, and use a computer? Then you should never ask anything about green until you completely eliminate the two biggest components of non"green" items in the world! Driving and computers.

  • 44 Posted by computer_surplus2005 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:28PM EDT Report Abuse

    Why would Wifi blocking paint not work, the military has been using radar blocking paint for years on aircraft and they are barely noticable on any radar unless you know what to look for. So Wifi blocking paint is not as far fetched as people think. The blocking of cell signals is NOT ILLEGAL in the US. Jamming of cell signal is ILLEGAL but blocking them is not ILLEGAL. Have you ever been in a big chain store say Lowes, Home Depot or even Walmart and your signal is weak or non existent. That is because of the excess metal in the roofing and the walls. You think they did it on purpose, of course they did. They do not want any cell device coming or going...Thanks

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