[wplug] On the subject of wardriving...

[beer]

There seems to be a a great many of you that believe wardriving isnt an illicit activity.  This brings me to 2 questions:

1.  Where are you getting your definition/understanding of the word?

2.  For what purpose does one wardrive if not to find networks that are unsecured?

According to reference.com:

wardriving - <security> (From wardialer in the "carrier scanner" sense of
that word) To drive around with a laptop with a wireless
card, and an antenna, looking for accessible wireless
networks.

This to me implies more than identifying networks and mapping them.  'Accessible' says to me, that you are taking the extra step to see if they are unsecured. 




>> Wardriving is _not_ turning on your laptop and noticing that SSIDs are 
>> being broadcast in your vicinity.  It is investigating those SSIDs to
>> see which ones are not secured and making note of that information.
> 
> Uh, not quite -- it's not just the unsecured ones, but locating ALL of the
> access points, in your vicinity. The driving part makes the vicinity
> larger.
> 
> Where did you get the idea that wardriving targets only unsecured nets?
> 
> 
>> If it were only noticing, then it wouldn't be any more illegal than
>> noticing that someone left their door unlocked ... but as soon as you
>> open that door, you step in to uncertain legal territory.  Even if you
>> don't go in, or do any damage ... the fact that you opened the door puts
>> you in a questionable position.  If you don't do any damage, or cause
>> any $$$ loss, you'll probably get away with it, but the point is that
>> you've crossed (or are standing on) the line.
> 
> Hm. I was avoiding the use of this kind of illustration, but if you
> insist:
> 
> Imagine standing atop your house, and screaming with a bullhorn about the
> existance of your AP. Now here comes Drew the Wardriver. I hear your
> screaming, and write down the location. This is wardriving.
> 
> There are no doors opened, and no locks tested.
> 
> 
>> If you want to continually redefine what the term "wardriving" means,
>> you're going to miss the point entirely, so lets stop using that term
>> (since we can't seem to agree on what it means.)
> 
> My excessive comments in *this* list, on TV, on the radio, and in the
> newspapers, magazines, and books, are about dispelling the misinformation
> heaped upon the masses by uninformed journalists, who liken El Neat-o
> technologies (like Wi-Fi, P2P, etc) to the illicit hobbies of evildoers. I
> also discuss the benefits of wardriving, and the outcomes of related
> technologies, like Wi-Fi density, location-awareness in software, GIS, and
> pretty visualizations.
> 
> 
>> The simple fact is that using somebody's network in a manner that you
>> are not authorized to do is a criminal offense according to current PA
>> state law.  Exactly where you've crossed the line into "use" is up to
>> the lawyers to decide.
> 
> Wardriving does not involve "use" of any networks -- at all.
> 
> 
>> "breaking in" has yet to be defined as well.
>> 
>> If I put a stack of $20 bills behind a locked glass door in plain view,
>> and you break the glass to take it, is that theft? If I put the same
>> stack of $20 bills behind an unlocked glass door in plain view and you
>> open the door and take them, is that theft? If I put the same stack on
>> my property, but in plain view with absolutely no deterrent, and you
>> take them, is that theft? If I put the same stack on public property
>> with no deterrent and you take them, is that theft?
>> 
>> And which one of those circumstances is closest to using someones
>> unsecured wireless network without their permission?
> 
> Wardriving does not involve use of any networks at all.
> 
> If I have my stereo in my house up really loud, and you walk by and hear
> it, are you stealing from me?
> 
> 
> --
> 
> Drew from Zhrodague		http://www.WiFiMaps.com drew at zhrodague.net		Location
> Based WiFi
> 
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