Wild Weasel
Jak se mas ?
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2002
- Messages
- 154
As if we didn't have enough to occupy our time. Tomorrow (Sat 31st) is International Wardriving* Day guys and gals, so lock up your WLANs.
Wardriving most typically involves attempting to associate to a wireless network from a wireless client situated beyond the physical perimetre of the premises on which in the WLAN is installed. For the purposes of this post, 'wireless' is defined as anything using 802.11b wireless 'ethernet'. International Wardriving Day is an apparently coordinated effort to have this occur in multiple cities across the globe symultaneously, with the usual whitehat facade of 'exposing and documenting the weaknesses and complancency of international corporations' or somesuch.
Basically, if you have a WLAN at home and you can do without it for a day, switch it off. (This whole thing may of course be some very abstract attempt at a denial of service attack by getting people to close down their WLANS for a day for a day but if so it
would have been more effective during the working week). A home WLAN is likely to be of little interest to them, but why take the risk.
If you work at a small business that uses them, shutting them down for the weekend may also be a good idea. Up to you of course. Larger organisations are probably already aware of the
intention and will have nothing to worry about because all of the necessary countermeasures and security policies will already be
in place. Yeah, right.
In any case, if you have a WLAN at home make sure you have enabled WEP as at high a key length as your equipment with support. WEP is a poorly implemented string cypher, but none the less, it is your first line of defense and will prevent someone simply driving by your house and hooking onto your WLAN. Also, please be aware that distance to public areas from your premises is less of a factor than you may think. The key issue in intercepting wireless transmissions is not signal strength but signal - noise ratio. A low powered but relatively clear signal will be readable from a considerable distance.
*They call themselves Wardrivers because they probably feel
more like Mad Max than if they called themselves Sad Little Fkng Geek Arseholes Who Aren't Getting Any.
Ah. That was quite theraputic.
Wardriving most typically involves attempting to associate to a wireless network from a wireless client situated beyond the physical perimetre of the premises on which in the WLAN is installed. For the purposes of this post, 'wireless' is defined as anything using 802.11b wireless 'ethernet'. International Wardriving Day is an apparently coordinated effort to have this occur in multiple cities across the globe symultaneously, with the usual whitehat facade of 'exposing and documenting the weaknesses and complancency of international corporations' or somesuch.
Basically, if you have a WLAN at home and you can do without it for a day, switch it off. (This whole thing may of course be some very abstract attempt at a denial of service attack by getting people to close down their WLANS for a day for a day but if so it
would have been more effective during the working week). A home WLAN is likely to be of little interest to them, but why take the risk.
If you work at a small business that uses them, shutting them down for the weekend may also be a good idea. Up to you of course. Larger organisations are probably already aware of the
intention and will have nothing to worry about because all of the necessary countermeasures and security policies will already be
in place. Yeah, right.
In any case, if you have a WLAN at home make sure you have enabled WEP as at high a key length as your equipment with support. WEP is a poorly implemented string cypher, but none the less, it is your first line of defense and will prevent someone simply driving by your house and hooking onto your WLAN. Also, please be aware that distance to public areas from your premises is less of a factor than you may think. The key issue in intercepting wireless transmissions is not signal strength but signal - noise ratio. A low powered but relatively clear signal will be readable from a considerable distance.
*They call themselves Wardrivers because they probably feel
more like Mad Max than if they called themselves Sad Little Fkng Geek Arseholes Who Aren't Getting Any.
Ah. That was quite theraputic.
