Locate Any WiFi Router By Its MAC Address

coderrr writes "SkyHook Wireless has been wardriving the US for years creating a huge database mapping wireless routers' MAC addresses to their physical locations. They provide an minimally documented API (docs here) which allows anyone to query the database directly for any MAC address. This could potentially allow some malicious individual to find out exactly where you live. Of course for them to get the MAC of your router in most cases will require either being infected with malware or some sort of social engineering attack... Imagine if you got a phishing email that included your home address."

Comments

Perfect for scaring people

[QuickFox]

This is perfect for when IPv6 takes off, with its built-in MAC address. Then my website can scare people shitless by greeting them with a note saying exactly where they live.

Re:Legality of this

[grayn0de]

Only when the person is too much of a poser to not find the hidden SSID. Not everyone knows how, though it is incredibly simple. That is the reason why we have security through obscurity, to begin with. Also, to comment on the topic, it does not take social engineering to find the MAC address for a router. Almost every stumbler does that, by default, out of the box. Many will show that there is a hidden SSID, but they may still show the MAC address. Even if they don't, the SSID can be found and the router cracked.

Re:Legality of this

[Sethb]

Yep, there's even a company called Navizon that's building a competing service to Skyhook, yet they pay individuals to collect the MAC addresses (as well as Cell tower IDs) with their GPS-equipped devices, so that those without GPS can still obtain their location. It integrates with the new Fire Eagle software/service from Yahoo too.

Here's a link (with my referral code inserted): Navizon

Skyhook has zero data in the city I live in, though I did eventually figure out how you could submit a MAC and coordinates to their system, and fed mine in, so at least my iPhone-owning friends will know where they are when they're at my house...