A five mile wi-fi detector has got a security firm's knickers in a twist about the lack of security in firms' systems. The device, made by this company, is a line of sight unit but it has plans to make more powerful devices.

Some IT security reseller named Global Secure Systems has been wibbling around saying that evil hackers can gain access to company wifi by simply taking an empty (and hopefully clean) Pringles box and amplify any 802.11g or 802.11n signal hovering around. Oh, they do have to put something in the Pringles box to amplify the signal, of course.

As a lot of modern-day routers support the up and coming 802.11n wizardry, signals have extended range. Apparently company IT geeks are not really too aware that they might be in for a surprise as invisible armies of evil munchkins will peruse manuals of lesser networking magic and try to hack in to surf and download for free, or even hack a company's network and set up an infected dummywummy page. Naturally, this would only work if companies are big l8m0rz that forget to change a routers default admin password, which in most cases is 'admin'. Securing a network with encryption passwords is highly recommended, shock horror.

The new scare is just a lot of bogus, the same warnings have been around since clever people (then called war drivers) discovered the technologically challenged forgot to encrypt their wifi and set a new password on their router. HD Communications just released a new router entitled the HD26200 which can bridge a signal in urban settings for around 5 miles and up to 30 miles in ideal settings, i.e. a technical manual. However, the new router needs line of sight, yet apparently there'll be a version which won't have to stare at a second unit.

The only people who ought to have a headache ought to be the RIAA, because evildoers and students will certainly set up wifi networks between dorms and housing blocks to share the newest warez, moviez and p0rn without MediaDefender being able to do anything about it. X