or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Hate linux-modules-restricted.

Paul and I spent some time a few weeks back trying to get Karma working on my new Ubuntu 6.06 LTS installation. Needless to say we ran into a few problems with the MadWifi-old kernel modules.

For those not in the know, Karma is a great piece of software for demonstrating how insecure open wireless networks are, as well as illustrating problems that can be had by auto probing for insecure wireless networks. Karma uses a patch for the Madwifi-old drivers to answer for ANY open SSID request, and can perform a number of actions - DNS, DHCP as well as HTTP content redirection. The usefulness of such a tool is quite apparent, especially when delivering a demo to those management-types who like pretty pictures. We'll be releasing a video segment of PaulDotCom security Weekly of Karma in the next few weeks.

Paul and I spent a few hours trying to figure out why my installation didn't work, and I proceeded to spend several weeks scouring the internet looking for help to little avail.

I was able to put some of my research to good use, and certainly provided me the right direction. After all of this research I figured that I was not the only one in this predicament. As a result I've documented the steps that I have completed to make Karma work for me under Ubuntu with Madwifi-old. I'd like to release said documentation, so that you can learn from my experiences:

http://www.pauldotcom.com/KarmaUbuntu.pdf

I would certainly consider this a living document. Please, any and all comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated and should be directed to larry@pauldotcom.com

Enjoy, and may Karma be good to you!

- Larry