Tales of Networking/Sharing an old Laser (may help someone)

[Pete Bejmuk]

So I decided to finally network my old ULS PS50. Previously it was just connected via a USB-Parallel connector to an old laptop running Windows XP, but I could not print to it from any other computer.

I have a wireless network already set up and my other computer station runs Vista Pro.

First, I downloaded Vista-compatable ULS drivers to the Vista Computer
On the WindowsXP Laptop, I selected the Laser in the printers folder and shared it (via right-click menu), calling it "LASER-VIA-LAPTOP"
Usually I'd just use the "add new printer" dialog on the Vista computer to "connect to a networked computer", But, trying to connect to to the laser thru the network via the Laptop computer kept resulting in an "ERROR 0X00000057". So, after some research, this is a common problem when networking to shared old printers on different operating systems. You need to do it by adding the printer as a local printer, then have make a new local port that points to the laser.
Huh?Here's how:

In the Printers folder (on the computer you want to be able to access the printer from), right click and select "add printer"
Click "Add a Local Printer"
Select "Create a New Port", then make sure "local port" is selected and select Next
Type "\\" followed by the name of the shared computer, followed by "\", followed by the name of the shared printer, then hit OK
ie my Shared WindowsXP Laptop was called "Backroom-Dell-Laptop" and the shared printer was "LASER-VIA-LAPTOP"so I typed:
\\Backroom-Dell-Laptop\LASER-VIA-LAPTOP
Follow the on-screen instructions, navigating to the downloaded drivers when told to.


That did it!


Occasionally when printing to the shared Laser, it would clear on the Visa Computer but would get stuck in the print queue on the Computer connected to the Laser, showing an error on the "remote downlevel document" print job. I just unplugged and replugged the laser's USB connection when that happens, and retry the "remote downlevel document" print job.


Hopefully this will help someone.

[Mike Null]

Pete

After my experience of the past couple of weeks where I was trying to do my own networking of 2 XP's and a Win 7 I have decided I'm too old to learn new tricks. I succeeded in messing up two of the pc's including my primary and while I was at it messing up the connectivity between my primary and two pieces of equipment.

Fortunately, I was able to find a computer guy who was fast, efficient and reasonable. For $60 he bailed me out of my self inflicted agony and won my future business. I had wasted countless hours trying to resolve this issues.

I'm sure your post will be helpful to those more adept than I at such things though.

[Robert Walters]

Pete,

It might just be easier to use a PARALLEL PRINTER SERVER adapter.
Something like this: newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127043

No computer needed to "host" the laser as the laser is connected directly to your ethernet network.

I would NEVER connect a laser engraver to a wireless network, they're WAY TOO EASY to hack.

[Curt Harms]

I would NEVER connect a laser engraver to a wireless network, they're WAY TOO EASY to hack.

Using WEP, I'd agree. I wonder how easily hacked a WiFi network using WPA2 AES encryption and a password generated by this site would be:

https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm

I use that site but use a portion of the 63 characters for the password. The other option would be to save the password on a USB key in a password protected .txt file. Open the password-protected text file in a text editor, cut & paste then flush the clipboard. I'm no expert but that seems pretty secure.

Another option: http://www.rarst.net/web/passwordcard/

I have heard of a case where a WPA WiFi network was hacked. It wasn't easy and was only possible because the passphrase was a short word found in a cracker's dictionary file.

[Richard Link]

Not sure I really understand the comment about not connecting a laser engraver to a wireless network because they are too easy to hack. Who wants to hack into a laser engraver? Someone who wants to send print jobs to the engraver that you won't actually print? Do you think an industrial competitor is going to siphon off your print jobs to divert them to another laser?

Seems to me that the VAST majority of hacking just has to do with people picking overly short and simple passwords or using the same password on multiple computers (or using networks without a password). These people are not "breaking" 128-bit encryption. I would expect that the other information that is passing back and forth over your wireless network (ie. financial stuff, email, credit card numbers, etc.) would be a lot more valuable to a potential hacker than access to your laser print queue....but maybe I'm missing something. Isn't a laser engraver essentially the high tech equivalent to a wireless printer? Are people out there afraid that their wireless printer will be hacked? Also, don't you need to actually initiate the job at the laser once it is sent?

With respect to using the complete 63 characters, that's not a bad idea. After all, you aren't going to be typing in the password to your wireless network more than a few times, depending on the number of client PC's you've got.

[Robert Walters]

Ok, let me see if I say this in a nut shell, since this is getting way off topic...


*ALL* Wireless security is easy enough to circumvent; It's very much like locking a screen door.
The only secure way of utilizing wifi securely is with a VPN, and perhaps WPA2-Enterprise (not Personal).

They are not "breaking" encryption, they're exploiting it. There are those that will war drive to find APs. Once found, if they listen to enough packets they can find encryption keys and connect.

Most of the time these are kids (and I do mean kids ages 12-24) that are bored, love the challenge, and want to think/feel they're "uber l33t hackers" so they can brag about it with their friends. They don't know what they'll find, they just try it just because it's there. But really, it doesn't matter why or their motives, just realize that it's easy enough for them to do with just a laptop and some free software they can download.

Once in, if there are no other security measures in place, they can exploit other things like installing malicious software/malware/virus, create bot nets to use/abuse your bandwidth among other things. And unless you have any security monitoring software you'll never even know they've been there, placed their payload, and left.

If they're smart enough to know what a laser engraver is (and most of them are these days), and have a grudge, they could potentially hack and install evil firmware to your laser engraver (worse case scenario).

If they hack a inkjet printer the worse they could do is botch your printer output (big deal), but a laser engraver that's been tampered with can cause physical damage to life and property. Same thing goes with a CNC machine/router. Wireless for machinery is A Bad Thing (tm).

Yes, these may seem way over the top for most people/scenarios, but that doesn't change the fact that they exist. Being in IT for many moons and having to comply with HIPPA and SOX regulations at the Enterprise/Corporate level, we've been made "aware" of such thing and had to deal with security audits as well as $5000 fines per infraction.

"But I'm just a mom and pop shop"

Well, you lock the front door just like any other corporation, once you've been made aware of such things, why would you think any differently?

"Wireless is easy for me to setup and use"

Yes, it is. that's part of the issue, they've made it easy to use and unfortunately easy to exploit.
It's the whole "Ohhhh I have a super secret, hard to guess, super long pass word" mentality and false sense of security that they want you to believe will protect you. But if you read the disclaimer on every wifi router or AP (access point) you'll see that they say "If you get hacked, it's not our fault".

"I've been using wireless for years and never had a problem"

You only have to be "broken into" once, to start thinking more about security.


Nobody ever "breaks" encryption, they exploit it in some fashion. What many people think of as "breaking encryption" is called "brute force". This is where they go through every combination possible.

If you think of a 4 digits combination lock, nobody will ever start at 0000 and go to 9999.
What they will do is try things like address, birthdays, phone numbers, combinations of dates, etc.

This is called "Social Engineering" (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(security) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_%28security%29) ) and is the same as when getting a fake email that asks for your password, or when elderly (who are the majority of the ones that fall for this) people get a call from someone at Mega Bank Inc saying your account has been hacked and need to verify who you are to be able to give you the details and get the monies back into your account.

Yes, I may seem over the top security wise, but I've seen some of the stuff these people do (and it's actually pretty amazing, I do have to appreciate their intelligence and skills). Wiring up a network is really not that difficult or expensive, just inconvenient. But it does add a huge level of security. It also doesn't mean you can't have wireless, just an added step (VPN login) that after time you get used to and is not an annoyance anymore.

Most of us share files/folder/artwork on our networks between computers. Unless you have (offsite, in case of fire) backups and backup diligently, what is your data/files worth to you if they were gone the next morning?
Would it put you out of business? Would it just set you back for a while? Would it just annoy you? What will your customers think of you once they find out their information has been leaked?

Do you realize that you are REQUIRED BY LAW (in certain states, California being one of them) to notify every single client/customer that there has been a leak of information? Even if that is just their phone number or zip code, it doesn't have to be things like social security, drivers license, or credit card numbers.

People don't like to think about security till after the fact. It's too complicated, it's too difficult, etc.
I don't know how many times I've been asked to look as someone's computer only to find the default password on their router has never been changed, or the firewall on their computer has never been enabled and they wonder why their computer take 10 minutes to boot up.

If your computer takes longer than 60 seconds to boot, you might want to look at whats going on.

People may disagree with what I've said here, I practice a higher level of security than most.
I will not go into a technical discussion on various security methods/scenarios, it's too broad a topic. I'm just trying to pass on "simple plain English" information to make people "aware" is all.

[Dan Hintz]

If they hack a inkjet printer the worse they could do is botch your printer output (big deal), but a laser engraver that's been tampered with can cause physical damage to life and property.Uhm... how?

They have no access to the safety features via wireless. At worst, they could turn your Christian cross image into a middle finger and give grandma a heart attack... but that's not the laser's fault, that's just an old ticker.

[Robert Walters]

Dan,

IIRC... Your PLS.60 requires a PC for operation, my M-300 doesn't.

You can "print" a firmware update on mine.

That firmware could be tampered with in such a way to bypass the safety features, fire the laser with no front panel indication that it's doing so, etc. So if you reach into the cabinet you may not have any indication that the laser is even in operation.

Mine is really just a dumb 386 with lots of I/O, 4MB ram, and flash storage for the firmware.
I have not seen anything in mine to indicate that there is a separate independent safety interlock system that's isolated from it's motherboard (ie uC/CPU controlled), as is required in EU for such equipment, but not in the US.

I'll suspect yours acts very much like a soft modem (win modem), where it's driver loads firmware upon startup of the connected PC. So if one were to tamper with the driver files on the connected PC, could potentially circumvent safety features.

Maybe yours has an FPGA in it, I don't know, but I still suspect the interlock switches are under microprocessor control.

I have not seen any indication that ULS provides any type signing of it's drivers (not the exe/msi installer, but at a lower level), but I could be mistaken here.


Would someone go to all this trouble? Doubtful, but stranger things have been hacked...

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/05/18/forget-car-jacking-car-hacking-is-the-crime-of-the-future/


'They also demonstrated what they described as “composite attacks” that showed their ability to insert malicious software and then erase any evidence of tampering after a crash. '
-- http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/science/14hack.html


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331088,00.html

[Lee DeRaud]

Two observations:
1. The actual probability of someone being able to hack a wireless-networked laser engraver is vanishingly low.
2. The actual desireability of wireless-networking a laser engraver in the first place is also vanishingly low.
I leave it as an exercise for the reader to determine which is smaller.

(This thread is giving me flashbacks to my career in the defense industry, where I had numerous dealings with security personnel who assumed that "theoretical possibility" and "imminent threat" were the same thing.)