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Auto-Scanning the Names People Choose For Their Wireless APs
MichaelSmith writes "I code on the tram, going to and from work, and I noticed that there are a lot of WiFi access points along the way. So one week I made it my job to write an automatic scanner which runs from a cron job every minute during commuting times. My backup script pushes the new AP names to my web server and you can read it online. It is a mixture of the straightforward, naive and funny, with a few pop culture references along the way. The first column in the file is the number of access points with that name. The second column is the AP name, in brackets to pick up white space." Why can't "Dress Me Slowly" and "Domestic Bliss" just share an AP?
Only 29 locations named linksys? I think there are that many in my neighborhood alone.
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There are a lot of "cute" AP names around, but mine is what the thing came with. The extent of my interest in that equipment is knowing I've properly secured it, and occasionally looking at the access logs. Beyond that I don't care. I've already thought about it way too much today.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
What'd he ever do to you?
should had it set to Linksys, netgear or other defaults. They you may of seen more hacks.
Indeed. It's public information, broadcast on some of the most public of the public airwaves -- the 2.4GHz ISM band. Nothing needs decrypted (therefore, various satellite and terrestrial broadcast rules don't apply, nor the DMCA), and nothing needs accessed (therefore, various computer access rules don't apply). Further, an SSID is too short for a meaningful copyright, and trademark law doesn't apply since it's not used in trade. And, of course, recording and publishing these things is simply recording and publishing a list of facts; a practice which has long been protected by various laws and rulings.
Kid-proof tablet..
Better tell SETI. Wouldn't want to piss of the aliens.
Many of the APs I set up use the person's name (or a play on it) with NET added to the end. I'm a little concerned about privacy, but I run the issue past the client. If they are concerned, I turn off the SSID broadcast and/or use whatever name they want.
He wrote a script, he could have carried the laptop closed and in his backpack and it would still have worked. Think about it derp.
ACTUALLY ... if you ever run into the hell that is a DUPLEX MISMATCH, you'll be grateful that your SWITCH does in fact have a COLLISION LIGHT.
Why yes, I am CAPITALIZING random WORDS this evening. It's a RESULT of the prodigious quantity of ALCOHOL I have been drinking.
THANK YOU. Now go back to scribbling about THINGS you DO NOT FULLY appreciate. This is SLASHDOT, after all. :-)
8===0o0===8 looks a little like a collapsed x-wing too.
Anything can be found funny, from a certain point of view.
Doesn't matter what the key is if it's using WEP. That's barely a couple minutes of number crunching for a cheap when it was new 3 years ago laptop. Seriously, it takes longer for a seasoned chain smoker to finish a Marb 72.
WPA-TKIP has been shown to have exploitable weaknesses so it will likely be cracked and then trivialized soon as well (if it hasn't been already). WAP-AES is reasonably secure at the moment but I wouldn't be surprised if that falls within the next few years as well.
Encryption is, and always has been, an arms race.
My God! It's full of eval()'s.