How Secure is Your Wi-Fi Network Against War Drivers & Casual Network Intruders?

Did you know that your wireless Wi-Fi network can be accessed by hacker from by a mile away? With a laptop PC, Wi-Fi hackerware off the Net, and a $30 antenna, hackers can access your Wi-Fi network from much further away than your standard laptop can reach. whether your network is unsecured or open, they have the capability to monitor every piece of data that is sent by the network, access your PCs, and whether you’re connected to a VPN, tunnel through to a corporate network.

War driving, the art of finding Wi-Fi networks, is becoming a popular game for many hackers. Armed with a PC, antenna, and GPS, hackers drive around their communities to locate wireless Wi-Fi networks, and can post them on popular war driving websites for all to access by the World Wide Web.

And finding unsecured networks is like shooting fish in a barrel:

Shipley, a computer defense researcher and consultant, is demonstrating war driving. It doesn’t take expanded to produce results. The moment he pulls out of the parking carport, the laptop displays the name of a wireless network operating within one of the anonymous downtown office buildings: “SOMA AirNet.” Shipley’s custom software passively logs the latitude and longitude, the signal strength, the network name and other vital stats After an hour, Shipley’s black Saturn has crawled through rush hour traffic, and his jury-rigged wireless hacking setup has discovered eighty networks beaconing their location to the world.

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/8835

Walking down Yonge Street and Bay Street (heart of the Financial District in Toronto) one finds countless warchalking markings (warchalking refers to the “chalk marks” that

citizens leave to indicate the proximity of open wireless networks). War driving, the act of looking for and using open, unsecure wireless networks is increasing with little-to-no legal action being taken. Until laws are set to deal with that, companies will need to deal with issues themselves.

http://www.enterpriseitplanet.com/security/features/article.php/3325971

Once wireless networks are identified by war drivers, they can be posted on numerous popular war driving websites. Many public are surprised to find out how easy it is to find their network up on a web site. To see whether your network has been posted yet, try one of the more popular web sites:

http://www.wigle.net/gps/gps/GPSDB/onlinemap/

Type in your address & see what pops up.

When I put in my home address, my secure network wasn’t found, but my neighbor’s open Wi-Fi network was listed (unfortunately, his SSID was his last name) from the freeway which is by 1/2 mile from our house. His banking info and personal records were stored on his PCs on the network, and his POP3 e-mail explanation readily broadcast his username & password every instance he received e-mail.

He has since secured his Wi-Fi network, but like many wireless users, he was under the misconception that considering he couldn’t get Wi-Fi access in his basement, hackers couldn’t find his network. Not only did they find his network, they posted it on a web site along with the fact that it was not secured, the channel number, MAC ID, and the last duration someone verified that it was still be open.

Don’t be a victim of hackers that want access to your personal & business data.