Network detectors or network discovery software are computer programs that facilitate detection of
wireless LAN
A wireless LAN (WLAN) is a wireless computer network that links two or more devices using wireless communication to form a local area network (LAN) within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, campus, or office building ...
s using the 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g WLAN standards.
[''Wireless Hacking for Dummies''.] Discovering networks may be done through active as well as passive scanning.
Active scanning
Active scanning is done through sending multiple probe requests and recording the probe responses. The probe response received normally contains
BSSID
In IEEE 802.11 wireless local area networking standards (including Wi-Fi), a service set is a group of wireless network devices which share a ''service set identifier'' (''SSID'')—typically the natural language label that users see as a network ...
and
WLAN
A wireless LAN (WLAN) is a wireless computer network that links two or more devices using wireless communication to form a local area network (LAN) within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, campus, or office building ...
SSID. If SSID broadcasting has been turned off, and active scanning is the only type of scanning supported by the software, no networks will show up. An example of an active scanner is
NetStumbler
NetStumbler (also known as Network Stumbler) was a tool for Windows that facilitates detection of Wireless LANs using the 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g WLAN standards. It runs on Microsoft Windows operating systems from Windows 2000 to Windows ...
.
Passive scanning
Passive scanning is not done by active probing, but by mere listening to any data sent out by the AP. Once a legitimate user connects to the AP, the AP will eventually send out a SSID in cleartext. By impersonating this AP by automatic altering of the MAC address, the computer running the network discovery scanner will be given this SSID by legitimate users. Passive scanners include
Kismet and
essid jack (a program under
AirJack).
Notable programs
Notable programs include
Network Stumbler,
Kismet,
Lumeta Corporation, Aerosol,
AirMagnet
AirMagnet was a Wi-Fi ''wireless network assurance'' company based in Sunnyvale, California. The firm was founded in 2001 by Dean T. Au, Chia-Chee Kuan and Miles Wu and shipped its first WLAN analyzer product in 2002. In August 2006, the compan ...
,
MacStumbler,
Ministumbler, Mognet,
NetChaser,
perlskan,
Wireless Security Auditor,
Wlandump,
PocketWarrior,
pocketWinc,
Prismstumbler,
Sniff-em,
AiroPeek,
Airscanner,
AP Scanner,
AP Radar,
Apsniff,
BSD-Airtools,
dstumbler,
gtk-scanner,
gWireless,
iStumbler
iStumbler is a utility for finding wireless networks and devices with AirPort- or Bluetooth-enabled Macintosh computers.
iStumbler was originally based on MacStumbler source code. Its early development focused on detection of open wireless (80 ...
,
KisMAC
KisMAC is a wireless network discovery tool for Mac OS X. It has a wide range of features, similar to those of Kismet (its Linux/BSD namesake). The program is geared toward network security professionals, and is not as novice-friendly as simil ...
,
Sniffer Wireless,
THC-Scan,
THC-Wardrive,
WarGlue,
WarKizniz, Wellenreiter,
Wi-Scan and
WiStumbler.
References
{{Reflist
Hacking (computer security)
Wireless networking
Detectors