Chapter 1: Learning to WarDrive/WarDriving Misconception

WarDriving Misconceptions

These days, you might hear people confuse the terminology WarDriver and Hacker. As you probably know, the term hacker was originally used to describe a person that was able to modify a computer (often in a way unintended by its manufacturer) to suit his or her own purposes. However, over time, owing to the confusion of the masses and consistent media abuse, the term hacker is now commonly used to describe a criminal; someone that accesses a computer or network without the authorization of the owner. The same situation can be applied to the term WarDriver. WarDriver has been misused to describe someone that accesses wireless networks without authorization from the owner. An individual that accesses a computer system, wired or wireless, without authorization is a criminal. Criminality has nothing to do with either hacking or WarDriving.

The news media, in an effort to generate ratings and increase viewership, has sensationalized WarDriving. Almost every local television news outlet has done a story on “wireless hackers armed with laptops” or “drive-by hackers” that are reading your e-mail or using your wireless network to surf the Web. These stories are geared to propagate Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD). FUD stories usually take a small risk, and attempt to elevate the seriousness of the situation in the minds of their audience. Stories that prey on fear are good for ratings, but don’t always depict an activity accurately.

An unfortunate side effect of these stories has been that the reporters invariably ask the “WarDriver” to gather information that is being transmitted across a wireless network so that the “victim” can be shown their personal information that was collected. Again, this has nothing to do with WarDriving and while a case can be made that this activity (known as sniffing) in and of itself is not illegal, it is at a minimum unethical and is not a practice that WarDrivers engage in.

These stories also tend to focus on gimmicky aspects of WarDriving such as the directional antenna that can be made using a Pringles can. While a functional antenna can be made from Pringles cans, coffee cans, soup cans, or pretty much anything cylindrical and hollow, the reality is that very few (if any) WarDrivers actually use these for WarDriving. Many of them have made these antennas in an attempt to both verify the original concept and improve upon it in some instances.