Microsoft's popular Xbox 360 game console can create a strong and strange signal on wireless LANs, according to IT staff at Morrisville State College. It's not clear whether the signal disrupts the college's WLAN access points or students' wireless notebooks. There is some anecdotal evidence, however, that it at least affects other radios in the same 2.4GHz band. Morrisville IT staff typically use Bluetooth headsets, which run in the 2.4GHz band, with their cell phones when they troubleshoot problems on the spacious campus. "We had problems syncing our headsets to our phone where this signal was strong," says Matt Barber, the college's network administrator. A phone user had to physically touch the headset to the cell phone to make the initial connection, he says. There may be effects on the WLAN that the equipment itself, from Meru Networks, is circumventing, according to Barber. Part of Meru's WLAN architecture employs software that gives the access points more control over wireless-client transmission behavior than does the software of some of Meru's rivals. An access point near a radiating Xbox may be compensating for interference by in effect guiding a wireless laptop to send and receive when open spectrum is available, essentially dodging around the Xbox signal.

A new white-paper published by Remote Exploit highlights how it is possible to remotely intercept signals from wireless peripherals such as keyboards. The security hack works only against keyboards using radio technology operating on a radio frequency of 27Mhz, which was previously thought to be secure from most casual attacks. The white-paper demonstrates how it is possible to use a simple radio receiver, a sound card, and some basic PC software to intercept these signals and reveal what users have been typing. While Bluetooth is safe from this vulnerability, companies such as Microsoft and Logitech still continue to use the tradition radio technology.

Razer, the leading manufacturer of high-end precision gaming and lifestyle electronic peripherals, announced today that the Razer Pro|Click Mobile mouse has begun shipping and will be available for purchase from www.razerpro.com.

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