War Driving

This page presents a complete War driving kit that students can put together very inexpensively. As well, this page has links to various informations on War driving in the Montreal region.

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About this page

As defined on Wikipedia, War driving is the act of driving around an area searching for Wi-Fi wireless networks using a Wi-Fi-equipped laptop or a PDA, to detect networks. It originated in the San Francisco Bay Area with the Bay Area Wireless Users Group (BAWUG). It is similar to using a scanner for radio. War driving was named after wardialing popularized in the Matthew Broderick movie WarGames.

Le War driving est une activité qui consiste à se promener avec un ordinateur portable ou un dispositif portatif (PDA, scanner), pour détecter des réseaux sans fil. Cette activité a débuté dans la région de San Francisco (Californie, États-Unis) par un groupe d'utilisateurs sans fil de la région de la baie de San Francisco(BAWUG). Le terme War driving provient de War dialing, qui a été popularisé dans le film WarGames (1983), avec le comédien Matthew Broderick.

This is possible because individuals, due to lack of knowledge, lack of adequate information, ignorance or laziness leave their wireless access points unsecured. In many cases the devices are unsecured because the default configuration that was in place when the device was purchased is being used. This configuration often has a default SSID without WPA or WEP encryption.

Le war driving est possible parce que les utilisateurs de réseaux sans fil, par manque de connaissances, manque de temps, par ignorance ou par paresse, configurent inadéquatement (ou pas du tout) leurs points d'accès sans fil. Dans beaucoup de cas les dispositifs sont sans garantie parce que la configuration de défaut qui était en place quand le dispositif a été acheté est employée.

Hardware required for War driving

Hardware	Description	Cost
a laptop computer	I use an IBM Thinkpad x31 laptop computer. With a weight of about 3.8lb, it is an ideal computer to use.	1500$
Wireless Network Adapter with an external antenna connector		125$
The correct external adapter cable for the adapter and antenna you have		12$
An external antenna		20$

Hardware 'nice to have' for War driving

All these items can be found on www.eBay.ca (Prices included shipping)

Hardware	Description	Cost
High-Gain directional antenna	A directional antenna or a Pringles can antenna	150$
GPS Receiver
External GPS Antenna	A GPS receiver connected to the laptop (NEMA, USB or PCMCIA)	23$
Vehicule	A used GMC Grumman delivery truck with tinted windows... It has all the space needed to set-up a really nice office and rest area for intensive War driving. I suggest painting the truck to resemble a mail delivery service so you can park anywhere...	5000$

Antenna

GPS Antenna

Free Software Tools for War driving

NetStumbler

NetStumbler is a tool for Windows that allows you to detect Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) using 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g. It has many uses:

Verify that your network is set up the way you intended.
Find locations with poor coverage in your WLAN.
Detect other networks that may be causing interference on your network.
Detect unauthorized "rogue" access points in your workplace.
Help aim directional antennas for long-haul WLAN links.
Use it recreationally for WarDriving.

KNSgem

KNSGEM converts (in batch) Netstumbler NS1 files into a format that can be access in Google Earth. See an example of Ontario Street East in Montreal.