What is Wardriving?

Wardriving is a new term to enter the world of identity theft and fraud and as with wi-fi hacking, it targets wireless networks. Technically, it is not a crime. However, it could be a technique easily used by hackers for stealing your personal information.

Wardriving begins by switching on a laptop with a wireless network card and driving up and down streets in an organized pattern looking for hotspots that have strong wireless signals. By the end of the day, a long list of strong accessible signal locations would be determined. An identity thief could take that information and return later to hack into the signals. By making the list at an earlier point, the thief is limiting the time he will spend exposed while hacking the connections of suburban homes.

Some hackers will even take this one step further and use GPS equipment to record exact locations for hacking later on! One day of ‘Wardriving’ will return a long list of locations. One night of ‘Hacking’ these lists will return a long list of very valuable private information!

What can I do to Protect myself?

Even with today’s level of privacy invasion and fraud, many wireless network users neglect to use ‘password encryption’ to prevent unauthorized individuals from connecting to their network. This may be because they genuinely do not know how to set up their networks with password encryption, but I find it very difficult to believe somebody can manage to set up a wireless network without the knowledge of how to enable password protection. It is far more likely that those who do not use password encryption do so because they are under the misconception that an up to date Firewall and Anti-Virus will provide the required level of protection.

This is certainly not the case! Password encryption, Firewalls and Anti-Virus are three totally different beasts, defending your computer in three very different battles! Let me explain it like this…when your Doctor gives you a flu shot, you are immunized from the flu. However, it will not offer protection against the Measles. For this, you will need an additional means of protection!

Your most effective defensive strategy against all types of hacking is to simply ensure that you are never connected to a wireless network that does not have password protection. If you are setting up your own network, enable the password protection and make a note of it. Keep the password in a safe place because you will need to use it at a later date if you decide to access the connection from more computers at your home. Additionally, as we’ve said before, be sure to have up-to-date Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware software, along with an active Firewall!

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