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Wardriving is the act of searching for
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...
wireless network A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network nodes. Wireless networking allows homes, telecommunications networks, and business installations to avoid the costly process of introducing cables int ...
s as well as cell towers, usually from a moving vehicle, using a
laptop A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a Clamshell design, clamshell form factor (design), form factor with a flat-panel computer scree ...
or
smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
.
Software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
for wardriving is freely available on the
internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
. Warbiking, warcycling, warwalking and similar use the same approach but with other modes of transportation.


Etymology

''War driving'' originated from
wardialing Wardialing (or war dialing) is a technique to automatically scan a list of telephone numbers, usually dialing every number in a local area code to search for modems, computers, bulletin board systems (computer servers) and fax machines. Hackers ...
, a method popularized by a character played by
Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. He starred in ''WarGames'' (1983) as a teen government hacker, and ''Ladyhawke (film), Ladyhawke'' (1985), a medieval fantasy alongside Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer. He play ...
in the film ''
WarGames ''WarGames'' is a 1983 American techno-thriller film directed by John Badham, written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes, and starring Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood and Ally Sheedy. Broderick plays David Lightman, a ...
'', and named after that film. War dialing consists of dialing every phone number in a specific sequence in search of modems.


Variants

''Warbiking'' or ''warcycling'' is similar to wardriving, but is done from a moving
bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...
or
motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...
. This practice is sometimes facilitated by mounting a Wi-Fi enabled device on the vehicle. ''Warwalking'', or ''warjogging'', is similar to wardriving, but is done on foot rather than from a moving vehicle. The disadvantages of this method are a slower speed of travel (leading to the discovery of more infrequently discovered networks) and the absence of a convenient computing environment. Consequently, handheld devices such as
pocket computer A pocket computer is a class of handheld computer characterized by very short displays (typically accommodating only one or a handful of lines of text) and calculator-style alphanumeric keypads. Pocket computers occupy a small footprint, allowin ...
s, which can perform such tasks while users are walking or standing, have dominated this practice. Technology advances and developments in the early 2000s expanded the extent of this practice. Advances include computers with integrated Wi-Fi, rather than
CompactFlash CompactFlash (CF) is a flash memory mass storage device used mainly in portable electronic devices. The format was specified and the devices were first manufactured by SanDisk in 1994. CompactFlash became one of the most successful of the e ...
(CF) or
PC Card PC Card is a technical standard specifying an expansion card interface for laptops and personal digital assistants, PDAs. The PCMCIA originally introduced the 16-bit Industry Standard Architecture, ISA-based PCMCIA Card in 1990, but renamed it to ...
(PCMCIA) add-in cards in computers such as
Dell Axim Dell Axim The Dell Axim family of personal digital assistants was Dell's line of Windows Mobile-powered Pocket PC Devices. The first model, the Axim X5, was introduced in 2002, while the final model, the Axim X51, was discontinued on April 9, 20 ...
, Compaq
iPAQ The iPAQ is a discontinued line of Pocket PC devices produced from 2000 until 2010. It was first unveiled by Compaq in April 2000. iPAQ included Personal digital assistant, PDA-devices, smartphones and GPS navigation device, GPS-navigators. ...
and
Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...
pocket computers starting in 2002. Later, the active
Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
and
Sony PSP The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
enthusiast communities gained Wi-Fi abilities on these devices. Further, nearly all modern
smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
s integrate Wi-Fi and
Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide ge ...
(GPS). ''Warrailing'', or ''Wartraining'', is similar to wardriving, but is done on a train or tram rather than from a slower more controllable vehicle. The disadvantages of this method are higher speed of travel (resulting in less discovery of more infrequently discovered networks) and often limited to major roads with higher traffic. ''Warkitting'' is a combination of wardriving and
rootkit A rootkit is a collection of computer software, typically malicious, designed to enable access to a computer or an area of its software that is not otherwise allowed (for example, to an unauthorized user) and often masks its existence or the exist ...
ting. In a warkitting attack, a hacker replaces the firmware of an attacked router. This allows them to control all traffic for the victim, and could even permit them to disable TLS by replacing HTML content as it is being downloaded. Warkitting was identified by Tsow, Jakobsson, Yang, and Wetzel. ''Warflying'' is a variant utilizing aircraft flying around and locating nodes. It was first performed in
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
with a Grumman Tiger in August 2002, and a week later in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
in August 2002 in a
Cessna 182 The Cessna 182 Skylane is an American four-seat, single-engined light airplane built by Cessna of Wichita, Kansas. It has the option of adding two child seats in the baggage area. Introduced in 1956, the 182 has been produced in a ...
.


Mapping

Wardrivers use a Wi-Fi-equipped device together with a
GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...
device to record the location of wireless networks. The results can then be uploaded to websites like
WiGLE WiGLE (Wireless Geographic Logging Engine) is a website for collecting information about the different hotspot (Wi-Fi), wireless hotspots around the world. Users can register on the website and upload hotspot data like GPS coordinates, SSID, MAC ...
, or Geomena where the data is processed to form maps of the network neighborhood. There are also clients available for smartphones running
Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...
that can upload data directly. For better range and sensitivity,
antennas In radio-frequency engineering, an antenna (American English) or aerial (British English) is an electronic device that converts an alternating electric current into radio waves (transmitting), or radio waves into an electric current (receivi ...
are built or bought, and vary from omnidirectional to highly directional. The maps of known network IDs can then be used as a
geolocation Geopositioning is the process of determining or estimating the geographic position of an object or a person. Geopositioning yields a set of Geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinates (such as latitude and longitude) in a given map datum ...
system—an alternative to
GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...
—by triangulating the current position from the signal strengths of known network IDs. Examples include Place Lab by
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
, Skyhook,
Navizon Navizon, Inc. is a provider of location-based services and products. Navizon was an early developer of technology that makes it possible to determine the geographic position of a mobile device using as reference the location of cell phone towers ...
by
Cyril Houri Cyril Lionel Houri (born April 1969 in Meudon, Hauts-de-Seine, France) is a New York-based inventor and entrepreneur who has founded two geolocation technology companies: InfoSplit, Inc. and Mexens Technology Inc. (now called Navizon). Houri is re ...
, SeekerLocate from Seeker Wireless, and Geomena. Navizon and combines information from Wi-Fi and cell phone tower maps contributed by users from Wi-Fi-equipped
cell phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...
s. In addition to location finding, this provides navigation information, and allows for the tracking of the position of friends, and
geotagging Geotagging, or GeoTagging, is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to various media such as a geotagged photograph or video, websites, SMS messages, QR Codes or RgSSfeeds and is a form of geospatial metadata. This data ...
. In December 2004, a class of 100 undergraduates worked to map the city of
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...
over several weeks. They found 5,225 access points; 44% were secured with WEP encryption, 52% were open, and 3% were pay-for-access. They noticed trends in the frequency and security of the networks depending on location. Many of the open networks were clearly intended to be used by the general public, with network names like "Open to share, no porn please" or "Free access, be nice." The information was collected into high-resolution maps, which were published online. Previous efforts had mapped cities such as Dublin.


Legal and ethical considerations

Some portray wardriving as a questionable practice (typically from its association with piggybacking), though, from a technical viewpoint, everything is working as designed: many access points broadcast identifying data accessible to anyone with a suitable receiver. It could be compared to making a map of a neighborhood's
house number House numbering is the system of giving a unique number to each building in a street or area, with the intention of making it easier to locate a particular building. The house number is often part of a postal address. The term describes the numb ...
s and
mail box A letter box, letterbox, letter plate, letter hole, mail slot or mailbox is a receptacle for receiving incoming mail at a private residence or business. For outgoing mail, post boxes are often used for depositing the mail for collection, altho ...
labels. While some may claim that wardriving is illegal, there are no laws that specifically prohibit or allow wardriving, though many localities have laws forbidding unauthorized access of computer networks and protecting personal privacy. Google created a privacy storm in some countries after it eventually admitted systematically but surreptitiously gathering Wi-Fi data while capturing video footage and mapping data for its
Street View This is a list of online mapping services that provide 360-degree panoramas around the world, grouped by region. Worldwide * Google Street View is the most comprehensive street view service in the world. It provides street view for more than 85 ...
service. It has since been using
Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...
-based mobile devices to gather this data. Passive, listen-only wardriving (with programs like Kismet or
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 ...
) does not communicate at all with the networks, merely logging broadcast addresses. This can be likened to listening to a radio station that happens to be broadcasting in the area or with other forms of
DXing DXing, taken from ''DX'', the telegraphic shorthand for "distance" or "distant", is the hobby of receiving and identifying distant radio or television signals, or making two-way radio contact with distant stations in amateur radio, citizens ban ...
. With other types of software, such as NetStumbler, the wardriver actively sends probe messages, and the access point responds per design. The legality of active wardriving is less certain, since the wardriver temporarily becomes "associated" with the network, even though no data is transferred. Most access points, when using default "out of the box" security settings, are intended to provide wireless access to all who request it. The war driver's liability may be reduced by setting the computer to a static IP, instead of using
DHCP The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks for automatically assigning IP addresses and other communication parameters to devices connected to the network using a clie ...
, preventing the network from granting the computer an IP address or logging the connection. In the United States, the case that is usually referenced in determining whether a network has been "accessed" is ''
State v. Allen State v. Allen was a 1996 decision of the Kansas Supreme Court regarding what constitutes the unlawful access of a computer system. The court upheld the decision of the trial court, finding that the state had failed to show probable cause that t ...
''. In this case, Allen had been
wardialing Wardialing (or war dialing) is a technique to automatically scan a list of telephone numbers, usually dialing every number in a local area code to search for modems, computers, bulletin board systems (computer servers) and fax machines. Hackers ...
in an attempt to get free long-distance calling through
Southwestern Bell Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T. It does business as other d.b.a. names in its operating region, which includes Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and portions of Illinois. The company is ...
's computer systems. When presented with a password protection screen, however, he did not attempt to bypass it. The court ruled that although he had "contacted" or "approached" the computer system, this did not constitute "access" of the company's network.


Software

*
iStumbler iStumbler is a utility for finding wireless networks and devices with AirPort or Bluetooth-enabled Apple Macintosh, Macintosh computers. History iStumbler was originally based on MacStumbler source code. Its early development focused on detect ...
* InSSIDer * Kismet *
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 ...
* NetSpot * NetStumbler *
WiFi-Where WiFi-Where was a tool that facilitated Wardriving and detection of wireless LANs using the 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g WLAN standards. Versions existed for the operating systems iOS and Palm OS. Originally created in June 2004 for the Palm OS by ...
*
WiGLE WiGLE (Wireless Geographic Logging Engine) is a website for collecting information about the different hotspot (Wi-Fi), wireless hotspots around the world. Users can register on the website and upload hotspot data like GPS coordinates, SSID, MAC ...
for Android There are also homebrew wardriving applications for handheld game consoles that support
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...
, such as sniff for the Nintendo DS/Android, Road Dog for the
Sony PSP The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
,
WiFi-Where WiFi-Where was a tool that facilitated Wardriving and detection of wireless LANs using the 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g WLAN standards. Versions existed for the operating systems iOS and Palm OS. Originally created in June 2004 for the Palm OS by ...
for the
iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
, G-MoN, Wardrive, Wigle Wifi for
Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...
, and WlanPollution for
Symbian Symbian is a discontinued mobile operating system (OS) and computing platform designed for smartphones. It was originally developed as a proprietary software OS for personal digital assistants in 1998 by the Symbian Ltd. consortium. Symbian OS ...
NokiaS60 devices. There also exists a mode within '' Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops'' for the
Sony PSP The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
(wherein the player is able to find new comrades by searching for wireless access points) which can be used to wardrive. '' Treasure World'' for the DS is a commercial game in which gameplay wholly revolves around wardriving.


See also

*
Honeypot (computing) In computer terminology, a honeypot is a computer security mechanism set to detect, deflect, or, in some manner, counteract attempts at unauthorized use of information systems. Generally, a honeypot consists of data (for example, in a network site ...
*
Hotspot Hotspot, Hot Spot or Hot spot may refer to: Places * Hot Spot, Kentucky, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Hot Spot (comics), a name for the DC Comics character Isaiah Crockett * Hot Spot (Tr ...
*
Warchalking Warchalking is the drawing of symbols in public places to advertise an open Wi-Fi network. Inspired by hobo symbols, the warchalking marks were conceived by a group of friends in June 2002 and published by Matt Jones who designed the set of icon ...
* Warshipping


References


External links

* {{Wiktionary inline Computer security exploits Wireless networking