Apple Apps

Eircom Wireless Crack Approved to App Store
By Alan89

Apple
has been making some strange decisions when it comes to what it
approves to the App Store this week, now having approved a wireless key
generator that allows the device to break into Eircom wi-fi access points.




It’s strange to see that in the same week
Apple has rejected an app from its App Store for containing the word “iPhone”
(it was a book about the iPhone, for the curious) and approved an app for the
iPhone and iPod Touch that allows users to engage in the entire dubious
cracking of Eircom networks. It’s worth pointing out at this point that this
has only been made possible because of the manner in which Eircom routers’
default security settings work.

Essentially,the SSID on older Eircom routers contains an eight digit number, mine is
“Eircom 3333 4763,” the problem is that that unique identifier is also used to
generate the WEP key that secures those routers. All this means is that there’s
long been applications and web pages around that will allow you to plug in an
Eircom SSID and get a list of possible WEP keys.

Essentially, that’s all the iPhone/iPod Touch
app does (and we imagine iPod Touch users will get a lot more use out of it).
Perhaps the most interesting facet of the whole story is that the Irish Times
managed to get in touch with the author of the app itself, David Heffernan, who
fairly openly admitted that he was surprised that Apple had approved it for
sale on the app store without any fuss.

For the curious, while we can’t advise you to
use it for any illicit purposes, the app itself is called, quite simply,
Dessid, and you can pick up a copy on the App Store for €1.59. It’s more
interesting to play with than it is useful, given the fact that Eircom has
since started shipping routers with WPA passwords that seem not to be connected
to the SSID, but it’s still a bit of fun.