[MLB-WIRELESS] Trepia

[Steve Smithies]

>Has anyone used the IM program 
>Trepia?  <http://www.trepia.com>http://www.trepia.com
>If so, is it any good?  Is it worthwhile using?  Is it a security hazard?
>Dan

Hi Dan & mlb-wireless,

I posted this back in October on the sydneywireless list, so their 
protocols might have changed since then...

I downloaded and installed the program, did a bit of packet sniffing, and 
if you're interested, this seems to be how it works:
- Everything is done through their server, finding nearby contacts, as well 
as sending messages to your "buddies".
- The first step is to set up a user profile.  You are forced to enter an 
age, gender and a "blurb" about yourself.
- When you log on, it sends to their server (in plaintext) your MAC 
address, your base station's MAC address, your SSID (network name), along 
with your nickname and scrambled password.
-  It requires an internet connection to work, and also must work through 
their server.  Apart from the password, data like the MAC addresses, your 
username, etc., is transferred in plain text.
- Magic happens at the other end, and it sends back a list of other nearby 
users.  It'd be interesting to see if it did anything more than just 
finding people with the same SSID.  My test case was myself and one other 
person connected to the same access point.

Steve.
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