Kismet on Mac OS X

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Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday June 19, 2003 @06:06AM from the do-you-war-where-i-drive dept.

KrON writes "Kismet, undoubtedly one of the finest wardriving tools around, now has the ability to capture under Mac OS X using the Viha wireless drivers. Not only do we get to play with Kismet's awesome CLI now, but we can also use it in conjunction with GPSDrive"

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play with Kismet's awesome CLI by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-19 06:09 · Score: 2, Funny

I thought it said awesome clit when I first read it. The eyes deceive.
1. Re:play with Kismet's awesome CLI by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-19 07:02 · Score: 0
  
  Yes, the main page is usually where you find those more familiar with a CLI than a clit.
2. Re:play with Kismet's awesome CLI by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-19 07:32 · Score: 0
  
  Wait a second, I resemble that remark.
3. Re:play with Kismet's awesome CLI by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-19 15:35 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I'm a Mac user. I know all about the CLI and use it frequently. It has its strengths and weaknesses just like the GUI does. Favoring one over the other proves little. Having a snotty, superiority-complex about either (and making the assumption that one's lack of knowledge about either style of interface says something about one's intelligence) is just as meaningless and comes off as very childish and insecure.
4. Re:play with Kismet's awesome CLI by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 00:14 · Score: 0
  
  Sure you do. And you know enough not to respond to trolls, too. Don't you?
Kismac? by Matthias+Wiesmann · 2003-06-19 06:18 · Score: 5, Informative

One OS X application worth mentionning is Kismac. It seems to have similar features and has a cocoa interface. It would be interesting to compare the feature of both applications.
1. Re:Kismac? by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-19 06:47 · Score: 0
  
  Then why don't you?
2. Re:Kismac? by squarefish · 2003-06-19 06:47 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Kismac is a wonderful tool. I've been using it for about 6 months off and on. I wish the documention did a better job of covering the details of how to use the data it gives you. It was a lot of cool features and will even crack the stream for you.
  
  --
  Creationists are a lot like zombies. Slow, but powerful and numerous. And they all want to eat our brains.
3. Re:Kismac? by mjoecups · 2003-06-19 06:58 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  It also has the GPS connection built into it, so the blabbing about needing the command line is typical for a slashdot post... We don't need the command line for that feature we had it in a GUI months ago. Also if you are running Kismac on machine with the PCMCIA based Wavelan card, and you are using the open source wireless driver, you need to reboot after running Kismac, as it seems to stomp on the wireless driver somehow. Kismac with the Wavelan card found 3 networks in my backyard, while the built in airport card in this PB/G4 TI found none...
  
  --
  If your hear it, fear it. If you see it, flee it.
4. Re:Kismac? by jlgolson · 2003-06-19 07:48 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  And when you find those networks, did you ask yourself why you are paying $45 for a cable modem? I did, but I still use my own connection of course.
  -jg
5. Re:Kismac? by azav · 2003-06-19 07:55 · Score: 1
  
  This is FANTASTIC. Thanks fer the post.
  
  Man.
  
  --
  - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
6. Re:Kismac? by KrON · 2003-06-19 07:55 · Score: 1, Interesting
  
  What are you talking about? Babbling about needing the command line? Where are you getting that?
  
  It has a great CLI is what I said, and it integrates with other applications such as GPSDrive, which KisMAC does not.
  
  I proposed GPSd support to the developers of KisMAC, and none of them seemed interested..
  
  KisMAC is cool and all, but it's mapping features don't hold a candle to GPSDrive.. And it's wireless side of things offers more "active attack" sort of things, but isn't nearly as informative or powerful as Kismets
7. Re:Kismac? by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-19 09:18 · Score: 1, Informative
  
  Kismac has a very small set of features compared to kismet; they're hardly comparable. Basically all kismac has going for it is the GUI, and kismet's UI really isn't that hard. And it's _not_ a CLI, it's an ncurses based UI. Not command line. Terminal, yes, commandline, no.
8. Re:Kismac? by Aliencow · 2003-06-19 11:33 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Kismet can do Distributed sniffing, it can sniff with many cards at the same time, each sniffing and hopping between different channel (let's say one card locked on chan 6, the other card sniffing on the rest), and has many powerful features that I'm not sure KisMAC has..
Just Curious by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-19 07:18 · Score: 1, Interesting

Why would anyone want to wardrive? It seems like it would be a boring waste of time to me. Maybe someone who war drives can answer this?
1. Re:Just Curious by druske · 2003-06-19 07:43 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I suppose it could be useful for an administrator trying to sniff out network vulnerabilities. I know of one large company that's become very paranoid about wireless access points after discovering a few unauthorized installations on the company LAN. There wasn't any plot behind it, just a few employees experimenting, but there were holes that could've been exploited nonetheless.
  
  Other than that, I can think of better uses for my time than trying to spy on my neighbor's network traffic.
2. Re:Just Curious by ivan256 · 2003-06-19 08:11 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  I can think of many uses for internet access while driving, even if only for a few seconds at a time.. You could have real time traffic updates superimposed on real time updated maps. You could correlate available local radio stations to your current position based on GPS. You could record logs of your trips without ever needing to go home and offload the data. You could pull updates that require lots of computing power from a remote machine so you don't need a power/fan hungry PC in your car. You could check your e-mail and stocks on trips (while you're parked) without a slow-ass celluar bottleneck.
  
  To do any of that stuff you need some kind of network detection software.
  
  If I were to wardrive, it wouldn't be for the thrill of detecting somebodies network, to cause somebody harm, or to map wireless access points and mark them with chalk; it would be to make oppotunistic use of momentary network access to use self-made services I listed above.
  
  GUI wardriving software is stupid in my opinion. The software needs to be transparent. The user shouldn't be interfacing with the software at all. Give me a CLI for my scripts and go away.
3. Re:Just Curious by sof_boy · 2003-06-19 08:30 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  So you can find a free and clear access point. There is one available from a glass and window shop in Marathon, FL, near mile marker 51.
  
  That's why.
4. Re:Just Curious by ricosalomar · 2003-06-19 08:35 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  Travel a lot?
  Say you're in a hotel, and the internet connection sucks / costs too much. Drag your laptop over by a window and log on. Wardrivig just makes it easier to find an open network when you need it. I've pulled over to the side of Ventura Bl to check if a book is in stock. Saves me having to park in the mall, or wait on hold while somebody cheks stuff. Pretty handy, and quick, too. I like knowing that I have internet access away from home, not on a 2.5" screen, but on a 15" G4.
  I guess there is some ethical debate about it, but i'm just using bandwidth for a few minutes.
  Besides, Laporte says it's OK.
5. Re:Just Curious by macdaddy357 · 2003-06-19 08:41 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Why wardrive? 1.To get free internet access. 2. To send out spam using someone else's account and SMTP server. 3. Just to see if you can.
  
  --
  How ya like dat?
6. Re:Just Curious by readpunk · 2003-06-19 14:29 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  People war-drive because they want to leech other peoples bandwidth like the 1337 |-|4>0|75 they are. Er, I mean they do it to "explore" the city and all the different and interesting wireless nets that are popping up....
  
  --
  
  ./revolution
7. Re:Just Curious by gnudutch · 2003-06-19 17:50 · Score: 1
  
  >You could correlate available local radio stations to your current position based on GPS.
  
  And in case we don't drive Cadillac's, correlate based on IP->location...
8. Re:Just Curious by ivan256 · 2003-06-20 01:26 · Score: 1
  
  Actually I drive a Cadillac and it doesn't have GPS (It's old). I picked up a GPS reciever (bare PCB) on eBay for $28. GPS is cheaper than 802.11. Way more reliable on the highway too. If you thought GPS was out of your price range, check it out. Search for "superstar GPS" to see the one I picked up. It's tiny and I have no trouble placing it out of sight in my car. The only seller I've seen with them provides excelent instructions and diagrams for hooking it up to a PC.
h2k2 forum by squarefish · 2003-06-19 07:38 · Score: 4, Interesting

the creator of kismet, dragorn, was one of the hosts of a great presentation at h2k2 last year called 'Fun With 802.11b'

you can get an mp3 of it here

--
Creationists are a lot like zombies. Slow, but powerful and numerous. And they all want to eat our brains.
1. Re:h2k2 forum by Aliencow · 2003-06-19 11:36 · Score: 1
  
  He's gonna be a host at Defcon this year, if I'm not mistaken...
2. Re:h2k2 forum by Guido+del+Confuso · 2003-06-19 18:19 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Yes, and next year I hear he's giving a presentation called "How to Use WiFi and IP Telephony to Get Around the One Phone Call Limit".
Re:I wonder what this story is about by Slur · 2003-06-19 10:52 · Score: 4, Funny

It's about following the links in the article to find out.

--
-- thinkyhead software and media
Re:play with Kismet's awesome CLIT by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-19 23:48 · Score: 0

I am the CLIT commander! I own the CLIT! The CLIT responds to my every command!

Sorry guys, I had to... Luckily I'm an anonymous coward... :)