> What is the risk? If the contents of Fort Knox were housed in an old

We don't know, he didn't tell us what his conversations were about so
now we'd have to make assumptions.

> If Steve's telephone conversations are similarly "dusty" and
> "anonymopus"... lets say boring, then likewise, they are practically
> secure because they will be of no interest to anyone, and even if

We don't know that, he didn't state.

> somebody happenned to overhear, the conversation would need to be of
> interest to the eavesdropper to even begin to carry the threat of any

Not necessarily. Lets say there were bored teenagers who made a habit
of searching around for VoIP data to sniff, just to see if it *was*
interesting.

> From a technical point of view, "WiFi" transmissions carrying VOIP
> are far more secure than conventional analogue phone traffic. Even

I'd disagree. In order to sniff VoIP over WiFi what do I need, a
laptop, an antenna and a wireless card. Everything else is free. Oh
and that's the same equipment I can use for everyday networking. On the
otherhand, if I want to start hooking up to telephone lines, the
problems are somewhat different to plopping down my laptop and attaching
an antenna.

> with the proliferation of sophisticated consumer electronics,
> eavesdropping on digitised sound is not simple. Specific packets have
> to be captured then the contents have to be reassembled and using
> appropriate codecs, have to be converted back to analogue. With the

Ethereal and Vomit are free. Jeff gave other links to other tools.

> Consider that the WiFi eavesdropper also needs to be within reception
> range and his task becomes even more difficult.

That's hardly a problem with a decent antenna. People have been
sniffing round for open AP's for ages, similarly screwing up Bluetooth.
Maybe VoIP credit card detail hijacking is next. It's not that
difficult.

> Finally, If Steve's conversations are highly confidential then he
> would not be asking this question here.

We still don't know that, maybe that's why he was asking.

> My answer to " ..are MY phone conversations secure over these
> connections?"..." for all practical purposes", ... .YES

I don't have a problem with agreeing with that considering that you can
listen to half of a mobile phone conversation any day you like by
standing next to someone and depending on the earpiece volume, maybe
full duplex. :)

David.