Posted 12:07 PM

The best kind of security

So I'm at the RSA Security conference and want to set up my laptop in the press room. There is wireless, I'm told, so I open the program guide to the relevant page which tells me:

"Access and login details can be found with your account information online at the 'My RSA Conference' tab. If you have problems connecting, see the Wireless Help Desk."

Well of course I have problems connecting, since (in a wonderful case of Catch 22) I can see the website without accessing the network and I can't access the network without seeing the website!

So I trek out to the website, where I pick up a pre-printed copy of the instructions (why this isn't included in the registration pack is anyone's guess). It does give me all the data necessery for WPA or WEP secured access. Well, most of it: "The Wifi Administrator has generated your WiFi password which is available to you via the Conference website." i.e., see the previous paragraph!

Trek out to the helpdesk again. Ask about password. Geek suggests using one of the free terminals available in the other building - a few blocks away! Start to get agitated. Geek thinks better of his survival chances and allows me to use his laptop "just this time" to change password.

It is true, though, that the network is secure by design, since it's designed so that no one can access it!