What a Great Time to Be an EMC Engineer!

In the April 9 issue of PC Magazine, there was an article describing how easy it can be for an uninvited computer user to tap into a wireless LAN. From the roof of Ziff Davis Media’s building in Manhattan, the author was able to detect 61 wireless routers in the surrounding buildings using a 14-dB Yagi antenna. Picking one network at random, he was quickly able to break into the system and surf the web. He could have changed the router configuration or performed a variety of other malicious deeds had he been so inclined.

For years, hackers and spies have been using high-gain antennas to pick up unintentional radiated emissions from computers then reconstructing the original data from the received signal. This is not particularly difficult, but it requires a moderate level of expertise in signals and fields. With the advent of wireless devices, getting unauthorized access to a computer system has never been easier.

Thanks to wireless LANs and peripherals, computers are more susceptible to unintentional and intentional electromagnetic interference than ever before. The growing popularity of wireless devices ensures that interference problems will occur more frequently in the years ahead. In addition, as computers become more dependent upon wireless communications, it seems likely that interference problems will demand greater attention than they have in the past. What a great time to be an EMC engineer!

Speaking of great times, this would be a great time to nominate someone in your company or chapter for an IEEE EMC Society award. The EMC Society strives to recognize people who have made contributions to the Society or to the EMC profession. Some contributions are obvious and well publicized, but most are not. The Society depends upon people like you and me to notice when someone deserves recognition and bring it to the attention of the Awards Committee.

Nomination forms are available on the IEEE EMC Society web site at https://www.emcs.org. If you think someone deserves recognition, but you don’t see an appropriate award, let us know about it. Henry Benitez, the Awards Committee chair, is very open to ideas for expanding and enhancing our awards structure. Perhaps we should have an award for the best new award idea. It could be called the IEEE EMC Society Award for New Award-Winning Award Ideas (or something like that).

Speaking of great ideas, this would be a good time to make your reservation to attend the 2002 IEEE International Symposium on EMC in Minneapolis. There’s no better way to keep up with the latest advances in technology affecting the EMC profession. Dan Hoolihan and the 2002 Symposium steering committee have put together a great program including short courses, workshops, hardware and software demonstrations, technical papers, exhibits and social events. You’ll have a chance to meet people working on the same types of problems that you are, learn more about EMC than you ever wanted to know, and have fun doing it.

I recommend you plan to stay a while and explore the area. It’s a really nice place to visit during their summer month. Just ask any native Minnesotan. Wenz da baest taime a year ta veezit Minnesota? August ay. Ya, you betcha!

EMC