Comcast's WiFi router lets your ISP spy on you, shut you down

Cory Doctorow 12:43 am Fri May 7, 2004

Om Malik warns that the Linksys WiFi boxes that Comcast is supplying to its customers allow Comcast to remotely detect and disconnect devices on your home network, like your VoIP phone (which competes with Comcast's long-distance service).

If you scroll through the press release, you come to a section which says that the gateway supports a CableHome 1.0 "for the ability to deliver secure, managed services from Comcast's head-end network to the subscribers' home network." Now there is a big problem with this thing – for instance, the Cablehome 1.0 standard allows cable operators to snoop around their home networks and learn things such as how many computers are attached to the gateway and what kind of traffic they are generating/receiving. (Beware Vonage fans, this could be used to detect your Vonage ATA as well.)

In case you were wondering, where's the juice. Go to the Cable Labs website and read this document. Scroll down to Section 6.3.1 and read:

The goals for the CableHome Management Portal include:
* Enable viewing of LAN IP Device information obtained via the CableHome DHCP Portal (CDP)
* Enable viewing of the results of LAN IP Device performance monitoring done by the CableHome Test Portal (CTP)
* Provide the capability to disable LAN segments

(via Engadget)

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