Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Worldwide WarDrive Aftermath

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the slashdot-needs-a-wireless-topic dept.

wardriver writes "The event took place on August 31st 2002, people from around the world took part in the effort to document and make known wireless access points as a group. Some people go WarDriving everyday, so this was just like an normal day for many who attended any of the world wide events as documented on the results page. Hardware ranged from laptops, to car mounted computer systems, to handhelds all equipped with GPS devices to accurately map the spots. Cars were marked with )(WarDriver stickers and people were sporting their wardriving is not a crime t-shirts. All in all the event went well and with enough pressure and requests to chris it may happen again." And in a related story, Dr_Marvin_Monroe writes "Wardrivers be warned---- A Practical Approach to Identifying and Tracking Unauthorized 802.11 Cards and Access Points includes information on locating rogue access points and intruders."

14 of 227 comments (clear)

  1. Cisco by Beatbyte · · Score: 4, Informative

    It should be known that there are cards that can "just listen" without letting themselves be known.

    Cisco makes the AIR-LMC350 which would be a good choice for wardrivers.

    Or, not being an idiot administrator and leaving everything open helps too ;)

    --
    Get paid to code OSS
  2. low tech variant of this event... by Ubergrendle · · Score: 4, Funny

    I went for a low-tech version of this event.
    Knock knock
    "Anybody home?"
    Try door.
    "This one's locked, next house!"

    Nicky nicky nine doors is fun...except for the old codger sitting on his front porch on a rocker with a shotgun full of rock salt...

    --
    John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
  3. NPR story by micromoog · · Score: 3, Funny
    NPR had a story on wardriving this morning. While they didn't use the term, they covered the topic pretty accurately (as usual).

    They interviewed a couple of guys that regularly drive around in a "pickup truck full of gear" and document access points. Apparently one of them has documented more than 400.

    The best part was when they said they do it at night, so people in "affluent neighborhoods" won't mistake the cylidrical antenna for a shotgun.

  4. worldwide wardrive by Golias · · Score: 4, Funny

    If by "worldwide" they mean "a few counties in California, Canada, and bits of the midwest," then the project was an amazing success. :)

    --

    Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

  5. Not just for bored amateurs... by EvilAlien · · Score: 3, Interesting
    ... wardriving is a fun hobby for real security professionals with big name consulting firms. Its a great way to demonstrate the importance of good practices and how pervasive bad security is. Its a pretty quick way to justify the expense for security, otherwise it can be pretty hard to quantify the benefits of vigilance to the penny counters.

    An ounce of prevention shows up in the ledgers, but they never see the cost of the avoided pound of cure.

    --
    perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
  6. "wardriving is not a crime" hmmm by fantomas · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "wardriving is not a crime t-shirts...


    You got to admit that people aren't doing themselves any favours by choosing a real positive expression like "wardriving"....


    I can see this must win real friends when you are explaining to companies what you are doing outside their offices. Especially in countries where vigilante groups /gangsters like cruising round in their autos. Great PR, guys :-)


    (Yeah yeah I know the origin of the term but I still think it sucks.. maybe try cruising round New York on 11th September and explain to a cop that you're war driving...)

  7. Somebody please clear this up for me... by psxndc · · Score: 4, Insightful
    While white hat hacking can be argued to be ethical (like Adrian Lamo type people), I don't see how wardriving does _not_ lead to unethical practices. It may be interesting how many people have open networks, but really what "good" does war driving accomplish? Do war drivers stop at the house and tell the people "Hey, you're network is open, and this is how you fix it"? What "good" comes out of knowing where wireless service is available?

    I understand that some people invite others onto their network. This is very generous (but in my opinion insane because YOU are responsible for what comes out of YOUR router), but shouldn't these people advertise that their network is open instead of people driving around trying to discover these access points? I think the concept of wardriving is interesting, but the practical ethical results of wardriving efforts seem very very few. Maybe there is some application I am missing. Feel free to enlighten me

    psxndc

    --

    The emacs religion: to be saved, control excess.

  8. Don't they have anything better to do? by JimPooley · · Score: 3, Funny

    Some people go WarDriving everyday...

    ...and really need to get a life.

    --

    "Information wants to be paid"
  9. Wardriving Results by drewzhrodague · · Score: 3, Informative

    Also, people have been uploading their scans to http://mapserver.zhrodague.net -- a web-based mapping package for the entire planet, and http://www.wigle.net - a java-based mapping client. Check 'em out when you get a chance.

    --
    Zhrodague.net - I do projects and stuff too.
  10. Re:Why "WarDriving"? by SynKKnyS · · Score: 3, Informative

    It was named after "War Dialing." http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_dialing

  11. Ciscos can't be trusted to stay silent. by Andy+Dodd · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Most cards have Linux drivers that allow them to be put into "RF Monitor" mode, which is completely passive. This is the default mode of operation for Kismet (http://www.kismetwireless.net/)

    Supported cards include:
    Prism2 with the linux-wlan-ng drivers
    Orinoco cards with a slightly patched driver from http://airsnort.shmoo.net/
    SOME Cisco cards. While they all happily go into RF Monitor mode when asked, SOME OF THEM KEEP BROADCASTING.

    So all in all, if you *absolutely* don't want to be detected, Cisco is the least safe choice for wardriving. Orinoco is probably the best bet, even though you will have to downgrade your Orinoco firmware for compatibility (8.10 is severely broken for RFMon usage). Prism2s have the best compatibility, but are generally known for crappy receivers and most don't allow external antennas. Almost all Orinoco-based cards have much better receivers and support external antennas. The Cisco hardware is the best (100 mW transmit, not like that matters if you're trying to stay silent, some have dual MMCX jacks for diversity antennas), but you can't trust it to stay silent in RF Monitor mode.

    --
    retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
  12. Re:Why "WarDriving"? by autocracy · · Score: 3, Informative

    Comes from War Dialing - dialing every phone number in a block in an attempt to find modems. This was typically done in order to find a weak point in an organization. War Driving is a similar art.

    --
    SIG: HUP
  13. who f-ing cares?!? by SethJohnson · · Score: 3, Insightful


    Why have an event ... indeed! What is the goal here? Awareness? Big deal! In the grand scheme of things, are unsecure wireless networks going to mean anything real to humankind? Is this Wardriving 'event' going to draw attention to a subject that will make someone think twice about something that might save the lives of themselves and/or others?

    To put this in perspective, consider that for years cellphones were 100% open to eavesdropping. In one case this vulnerability was exploited to expose a scandalous affair Prince Charles was having. Did people take notice and say, "Damn. I better get some encryption going on!" No.

    Even if every wireless AP owner knew people might be accessing their networks surrepititiously, would they really care enough to do something about it? Probably not.
    --
    $5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
  14. Re:Idiot Administrators by Melantha_Bacchae · · Score: 5, Insightful

    hillct wrote:

    > It boggles the mind that so many administrators
    > unintentionally leave their wireless networks open
    > and available

    It doesn't boggle anything when you get off you geeky high horse and realize that most people buying and installing wireless network equipment are not "administrators" of any sort. They are ordinary people who don't know a thing about network security, but just need a net to work. The only thing that boggles the mind is that you would rationalize preying upon their ignorance.

    The manufacturers hold one key to solving this. If they would make the configuration of these networks secure by default, and give people easy to understand instructions for enabling security: "Yes, I want to make my network safe from invading hordes of young hoodlums.", it would help.

    "Godzilla and Jaguar: Punch! Punch! Punch! Hit! Hit! Hit!
    We die if they stop fighting for us."
    Jet Jaguar Song, "Godzilla vs. Megalon"