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Large-Format Printable Wardriving Maps of Seattle
drewzhrodague writes "In what is sure to tie up a few print queues, us guys at WiFiMaps.com have released large-format printable maps of Seattle. These were generated during a collaboration with the University of Washington's communications department. This is one of the most comprehensive Wi-Fi mapping project to date, as 100 undergrads swarmed downtown Seattle to collect wardriving data. We've rendered their results at 300dpi, for letter, tabloid, and architectural E sized paper. There is both the standard layout, and the aerial versions available using bittorrent."
While I am cool with it, keep in mind there are some possible legal implications to wardriving.
Sigs? We don't need no stinking sigs!
Can anyone deliver those files outside bittorrent, I am unable to use BT (studnet)
------- In the end there are no begining
...god forbid if I get lost and have to ask for directions on this one: "Excuse me sir, can you please give me directions to the nearest 'default' access point?"
How fast technology advances
Think like a hacker, act like a hacker, but never become a hacker !
There's already been the first arrest for wardriving, let's just hope these maps don't let to a second (or third, fourth, etc. with so many eager undergrads involved).
I'd really like one of Redmond. Or, rather, this one specific part of Redmond...
No reason, really. Honest.
The coolest voice ever.
Large-Format Slashdotable Wardriving maps of Seattle?
Is this legal? Are would it only be illegal if something like the Induce Act was passed? It seems to me that someone out there is going to think this is illegal and prosecute. Oh, and it's "generated."
that's the map. Just my house and my neighbors. Maybe I need to wardrive Baltimore. If anybody has tell me
I can see my house from that map
I can see mine too... It's clearly marked default... d'oh!
publicly releasing maps of the WiFi area coverage in Seattle is a somewhat good idea in that the people know if they are covered by WiFi in that area, but it is also kinda dumb. Its just wasting space on the host and on the World Wide Web. I mean, seriously, overing arial maps of all of seattle is also a security risk...of course i probably would be arguing this point if the WiFi network was in Davie...
As a few have already pointed out, War Driving has some murky legal waters surrounding it. I hope that the people involved in the creation of this map don't suddenly wake up with the FBI bursting through their doors and a DOJ lawsuit involving intent to facilitate illegal activities/hacking/terrorism/etc. I really wouldn't put it past the DOJ in this day and age. Personally I think using someones wireless network without their authorization should be perfectly acceptable. These people should have properly configured their networks if they didn't want people using them. If they use the network access to own the hosts box, that's one story, but if you're just leeching their internet access it should certainly not be a crime. You're only partaking in activities that the host allowed through his security settings. If they didn't want to allow it, they should either fix their secuirty settings, or not set up a wireless access point when they obviously had no clue what they were doing. Ignorance of security should be no excuse. If you don't want people piggybacking your wireless connection, configure it properly, don't whine about it to the DOJ. You only have yourself to blame.
"To lead the people, you must walk behind them"
Rather that use dead-trees, wardrivers could use the names and signal strengths to nearby stations to estimate their position and calculate movements toward the best accessible WiFi hotspots. Even if the base station is password protected, its broadcast name and existence can help war drivers figure out where they are on the war-driving map. And if each wardriver submits data on stations and signal strengths, statistical combination of all the data could help refine the map further.
It will never beat GPS, but it would be cool to create a city-wide navigation system that works on WiFi -- "just turn left when you get max signal from MAC 00 60 1D 1C B9 0D."
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Is how many of these are left in a week once people realize thier networks are being tapped.
You say you want a revolution....
The FBI does a sweeping investigation of the Redmond, WA area after Bill Gates found adult videos and yachts were being billed on his credit cards without his knowledge.
FBI director Robert Mueller refused to comment on whether Internet hackers stole his numbers from a Microsoft Word Document he stored on his laptop, only adding "If the crooks like porn, it's not our business."
More news at 11.
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
Does anyone have a NON-bittorrent download location? University of Washington screws over its students by decreasing bittorrent speed to near zero.
366 MB?! Do you realize how long it'll take me to download that through someone else's access point?
My other sig is also a
I think there's a big problem if I'm only pulling in a single digit KBps rate on one of the files, and the other's not comming through at all. If it is possible to slashdot a torrent then something is wrong.
You're distributing information. Don't you know that's illegal now?
Unless it is false information that benefits Microsoft. That is legal until SCO patents it.
Why is this map any more controversial than any other network map?
....get with the proper scalable paper sizes. Any geek would revel in the rationality of the ISO A-type paper sizes
Nice job!
Small problem. My buddy in Seattle just shut off his WiFi router. Now the map is out of date.
For the next version, why not release this with a program that wardrivers can use to automatically detect and upload changes to the server? The open source/wiki development model seems to be even better suited to this than to, say, an OS or encyclopedia.
In Repressive Burma, it's not just your connection that dies. slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=314547&cid=20819199
Since when was a PNG vector???
heres a mirror, IM mirroring if for people that cant use BT because i cant handle a huge amount of traffic. http://bird603568.ath.cx/
I was reading over their project info, because my Information Warfare class last quarter did something similar for Spokane, WA, but didn't actually plot out any maps (we were mostly looking for corporate vs. personal networks, secured vs. non-secured, % in default configuration, etc).
Anyway, I'm surprised that they used NetStumbler on Windows XP for their network detection. Our class used Kismet on Linux.
Netstumbler is a completely active tool. As I recall, sends out association packets and listens for APs that respond (or something along those lines).
Kismet on the other hand is complete passive...it puts the wireless interface into RFmon mode (as opposed to promiscuous mode) and simply records all 802.11 frames that come across the air, allowing you to, among other things, sniff arbitrary packet and detect networks that are not broadcasting beacon frames.
I did a simple wardrive a few months ago: Kismet on my laptop, Netstumbler on my friend's laptop. Kismet found around 3x or 4x as many networks. So I'm surprised that UW used NetStumbler and not Kismet...
That said, I'm still downloading their maps on my Azureus box right now. I might recommend to my CyberSecurity prof that he should get a group of grad students in one of his classes to do something similar for our area.
"These were gnerated..."
SCO doesn't try to patent everything-- thats microsoft think sudo (SCO can't afford it). SCO just claims that you copied everything from them. THE LINE #INCLUDE IN THE LINUX KERNEL IS CLEARLY DIRECTLY COPIED FROM....
I mean really, people have to be just asking for me to kill them when i'm running down the street with my AK-47 spraying rounds everywhere. If they can't dodge them that's their fault.
What has the world come to?
All your base are belong to Google.
"This is such a horrible analogy. In order to steal things from you, first I'd have to enter your house, without authorization."
Identity theft.
The parent suggested it was as if someone ransacked their living room. I was referring back to this analogy. Identify theft is certainly not the same as ransacking a livingroom.
"If you broadcast into my space, it should be fully within my rights to take advantage of whatever data or service is on those waves."
Geeks make lousy lawyers.
So, you really don't think you should be able to receive radio waves and interact with them accordingly based on standard protocols? That is fucking crazy man. What next, are we going to outlaw physics completely?
"To lead the people, you must walk behind them"
Hosted on my fast server for your convenience. Hosted for a limited time as this is eating bandwidth... UW Printable maps non bittorent fast mirror http://files.photojerk.com/wifiuwprodraster.zip for raster map!!! Use http://files.photojerk.com/wifiuwprodvector.zip for vector map. Alan
I'm not giving any legal advice. If anyone has taken anything I've said as "legal advice" they need a lot more than a real fucking lawyer. A big fat reality check maybe. I'm simply posing my unprofessional opinion on what I think should be legal behavior. Not on what is or isn't legal, but what I personally think should be. And as I said, I believe that we should have the freedom to take advantage of some nitwit that has made their internet connection available over a wireless network.
"To lead the people, you must walk behind them"
That's entirely the wrong attitude, and one that makes wardrivers and wireless enthousiasts cringe to hear it. It's akin to saying, "he left his car unlocked, so I took it and drove it around. It's his fault for not locking the door."
The justification behind using default network ones is both moral (from our standpoint) and legal. Wireless networks are broadcast in the public band, anyone can listen. It's against the law to break encryption to get onto a network, just as it's against the law to decode encrypted army messages, but it's entirely okay to listen to FM radio wherever and whenever you want. That's what people with "default" access point are doing, publicly broadcasting something anyone has the right to "listen" to.
Especially in Seattle, you can't assume that every open access point is that way only because the owner doesn't know how to secure it. Many folks leave their access points open intentionally, as a service to the community. There's even a substantial, organized effort, Seattle Wireless, to encourage more folks to do so.
In light of this, I think the whole argument about whether finding and using APs is illegal is nonsense. What's the difference between an open-by-ignorance and open-by-design AP? Nothing. Maybe this is an argument for routers to ship with some sort of security on by default, but clearly you can't consider all war-driving in Seattle to be prima facie malicious.
Hosted on my fast server for your convenience. Hosted for a limited time as this is eating bandwidth... UW Printable maps non bittorent fast mirror http://files.photojerk.com/wifiuwprodraster.zip for raster map!!! Use http://files.photojerk.com/wifiuwprodvector.zip for vector map. Alan
*pets designjet 120*
Looks like we have a date.
I'm a big retard who forgot to log out of Slashdot on Mike's computer! LOOK AT ME.
You may be right, but doesn't that just confirm what I said about lack of respect for other people's possessions...?
Some nitwit drops his wallet in the street, so of course we should have the legal freedom of "finders, keepers."
I mean, if he's too stupid to secure it in his back pocket and it's just lying there on the sidewalk - which is MY space since I've just stepped on it - it should be mine to strip the cash out of and toss the cards in the bin. You know, forget looking up his address and returning the wallet to him like a decent human being would do.
(Actually that gives me an idea: this wardriving map could be used for good: use it to email the admins and tell them their back pockets are open.)
Yes, thank you -- we did not include indentifiable information for the owners of the APs -- no MACs, no street addresses, no names. The original point of this map and WiFiMaps.com is to show just how many of these things are being deployed. There's a shitload!
Zhrodague.net - I do projects and stuff too.
I was describing the output -- drawings of lines, versus the raster aerial photographs, of course.
Zhrodague.net - I do projects and stuff too.
I wish I saw my house on that map =_(
Zhrodague.net - I do projects and stuff too.
The issue is that the strenght of the signal is not a linear function of distance.
I agree with you, but don't think it hinders the system as much as it might seem. The key is that most base stations have limited range -- if I can detect the signal at some normal strength level (e.g., not using a cantenna), I know I'm within a 50-100 meters of the transmitter.
What got me thinking about this was my experience on a recent business trip. Sitting in my room at a bed-n-breakfast, I was picking up 4 wireless networks - the network of the B&B, the one from an adjacent B&B, and two other networks in the residential neighborhood. I doubt there are many places in which all four networks are detectable. Conversely, that means that if I can detect all four networks, I must be in a particular fairly small error circle (say within 1/4 to 1/2 a city block) within the overlap of the four networks.
A simple WiFi navigation system would use binary detect/no-detect data to determine location. If one can detect stations A, B, and R, then one must be in a particular street, near a particular corner.
Yes, some transmitters might be detectable over a much greater distances. These signals are much less useful for navigation because detecting them does not mean one is in any particular location. But with enough data, the system can easily learn to ignore signals from longer-range WiFi transmitters.
Yes, some transmitters might be temporarily undetectable due to being off or in a magic voodoo WiFi dead-zone. But the statistical logic of the navigation system could be tied to what is detectable and not use any evidence about what isn't detectable.
A more sophisticated system could use signal strength, but it would need a much greater volume of data in order to compute statistically meaningful location estimates. Although the signal drop-off is not isotropic, time-invariant, it is not statistically arbitrary. One is unlikely to get a strong signal at 150 meters from a normal WiFi station. Statistical variations in signal strength with distance would determine the error region around any estimate of location.
As I said, it will never beat GPS. But it would be cool to calculate where you are from who you can hear.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Would like to find one that covers my own area, but the maps on that site dont cover the UK.