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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?
The SSID I use is "Honeypot"
Once I was a four stone apology. Now I am two separate gorillas.
slashdotted
MichaelSmith /.s his own server.
My favourite is the tie fighter: ]-o-[
Any fool can talk, but it takes a wise man to listen.
Huh? There's nothing illegal about logging the names of Wifi networks. Or at least there shouldn't be, as that would be completely crazy.
It's aking to noting the names people display publicly next to their doorbells, just easier to do. He didn't connect to any of the networks, just log their names. Nothing wrong with that.
Proud member of the Ferengi Socialist Party.
I ran across one recently that called itself "BURN. FACIAL. SUCK IT."
I've been thinking about putting together a cron job on a spare WRT router that periodically switches between various funny or disparaging SSIDs, myself. I might even leave it unencrypted, with DHCP on, with a random goatse appearing instead of net access.
Kid-proof tablet..
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?
"dress me slowly" is a retro clothing store on Nicholson St in Fitzroy. The tram route is therefore route 96 in Melbourne Australia..
What? This wasn't one me those tram spotters quizzes?
Doesnt' netstumbler already do this?
Not only is it legal, but it's been going on for a long while now.
Upside-Down-Ternet.
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
I came across one in Hong Kong called "DON'T STEAL MY FUCKING WIFI". And of course, it was unsecured.
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.
Why would slashdotting your own website be illegal?
Hiding the SSID decreases your security. When the access point broadcasts the SSID, the clients passively listen for it when they're not in range. When the SSID is hidden, clients broadcast the SSID in search of the wireless LAN wherever they are. This tells attackers about your laptop. There's even a ready-made attack tool for this: the "JaSager" (an implementation of "Karma") will listen for the probe requests and pretend to be your access point. If your WLAN is encrypted, you won't fall into that trap, but anyone who uses MAC address filters and hidden SSID as the only access control mechanisms is instantly MITMd. Even if you can avoid fake access points, your laptop still leaks your SSID and any information that may give (your name? your address? an obscenity?). Don't turn off SSID broadcasts.
They are the nation's largest provider of free wifi, with their fierce competitor "dlink" close behind...
you are not talking to it, it is talking to you
I saw one near a Subway restaurant that said "Jared Is Still Fat"
Also died laughing.
"Black holes are where God divided by zero." - Steve Wright
I got rid of of passwords, WPA,WPA2,WEP or whatever crap and just changed my SSID to "$5.99 per minute".
I check the logs and have never seen a single person connect to my router.
Yeah because as everyone knows, Australia is in Europe...
You obviously have no clue how wifi works. The routers are broadcasting their identification codes and names. All your computer has to do is listen. It's the same as if you were just tuning into all the local FM bands and listening to what other people were listening to (as most of those devices are unencrypted). He doesn't have to "ping" the other wifi networks to listen to them. He doesn't hack anything or attempt to decrypt anything; he simply listens to routers shouting out their names. Perfectly legal. If you scan for wifi access points with Windows, you're doing the same thing; the only difference: he wrote the names down and put the names online.
I came, I saw, She conquered.
Yeah, it sure takes a lot of genius to hear about something and post it to Slashdot in a relevant discussion. Somebody get this guy a fucking Nobel Prize in physics.
Their both right.
rewriting history since 2109
I'm surprised all the SSIDs aren't "Bruce".
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
I leave an AP open using my street number as SSID. Its outside my firewall and bandwidth is throttled to 15% of my 15/25 Fios. I check the logs sometimes. Its usually someone who came out on a service call, probably logging the job and gettting directions to the next gig. I saw repeated connections once so I blocked the mac address. Shortly after, my close freinds next door noted to me that thier wireless stopped working. I went over and set up their Fios router for wireless.
http://artifacts.glitch.tl.nyud.net/access_points.txt
I see these "Free Public WiFi" ESSIDs all over the place in public areas, such as airports. They never work. They're usually ad-hoc networks.
I assumed for a while that they're symptoms/carriers of some kind of malware, but didn't really worry about it since I don't use Windows.
I just read this article which has a slightly crazy but just-maybe-plausible theory to explain them. They think that it's a weird, propagating out-of-control Windows XP feature, which makes every network to which an XP computer connects propagate its name as an ad-hoc network. And then when somebody else tries to connect because of the enticing name, they keep the ESSID alive for another minute since it's an ad-hoc network, and this continues ad infinitum. So the whole thing is nothing but a long-lasting "echo" of a forgotten network that keeps alive in heavily trafficked public areas. The whole idea seems nuts. Dumber than dumb. Dumber than Microsoft even.
But I haven't heard of any better explanation for the "Free Public Wifi" phenomenon. Anyone else???
My bicyles