How Secure is Your Wi-Fi Network Against War Drivers & Casual Network Intruders?

Did you know that your wireless Wi-Fi network can be accessed by hacker from over a mile away? With a laptop PC, Wi-Fi hackerware off the internet, and a $30 antenna, hackers can access your Wi-Fi network from much further away than your standard laptop can reach. If your network is unsecured or open, they have the capability to monitor every piece of information that is sent over the network, access your PCs, and if you're connected to a VPN, tunnel through to a corporate network.

War driving, the art of finding Wi-Fi networks, is becoming a popular game for many hackers. Armed with a PC, antenna, and GPS, hackers drive around their communities to locate wireless Wi-Fi networks, and can post them on popular war driving websites for all to access over the internet.

And finding unsecured networks is like shooting fish in a barrel:

Shipley, a computer security researcher and consultant, is demonstrating war driving. It doesn't take long to produce results. The moment he pulls out of the parking garage, the laptop displays the name of a wireless network operating within one of the anonymous downtown office buildings: "SOMA AirNet." Shipley's custom software passively logs the latitude and longitude, the signal strength, the network name and other vital stats After an hour, Shipley's black Saturn has crawled through rush hour traffic, and his jury-rigged wireless hacking setup has discovered eighty networks beaconing their location to the world.

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/8835

Walking down Yonge Street and Bay Street (heart of the Financial District in Toronto) one finds countless warchalking markings (warchalking refers to the "chalk marks" that people leave to indicate the proximity of open wireless networks). War driving, the act of looking for and using open, unsecure wireless networks is increasing with little-to-no legal action being taken. Until laws are set to deal with this, companies will need to deal with issues themselves.

http://www.enterpriseitplanet.com/security/features/article.php/3325971

Once wireless networks are identified by war drivers, they can be posted on numerous popular war driving websites. Many people are surprised to find out how easy it is to find their network up on a web site. To see if your network has been posted yet, try one of the more popular web sites:

http://www.wigle.net/gps/gps/GPSDB/onlinemap/

Type in your address & see what pops up.

When I put in my home address, my secure network wasn't found, but my neighbor's open Wi-Fi network was listed (unfortunately, his SSID was his last name) from the freeway which is over 1/2 mile from our house. His banking information and personal records were stored on his PCs on the network, and his POP3 e-mail account readily broadcast his username & password every time he received e-mail.

He has since secured his Wi-Fi network, but like many wireless users, he was under the misconception that because he couldn't get Wi-Fi access in his basement, hackers couldn't find his network. Not only did they find his network, they posted it on a web site along with the fact that it was not secured, the channel number, MAC ID, and the last time someone verified that it was still be open. Don't be a victim of hackers that want access to your personal & business information.

LucidLink WiFi Client Available at Download.com

Wi-Fi Security can be hard. There are many options, many settings, and a lot of techno-babble in many WiFi clients that make it difficult for non-technical users to understand.

The LucidLink WiFi Client eliminates all of the clutter and only presents what you need to connect to the WiFi network. It automatically determines the WiFi security method being used on the network and requests only the information required to connect to that network.

LucidLink WiFi Client makes it easy to access Wi-Fi networks. It can be used to connect to home networks, office networks, or public hotspots. This client is easy to install, easy to use, and it solves an array of problems Wi- Fi users face connecting to different wireless networks. The LucidLink WiFI Client automatically detects network security settings, alerts users to incompatible settings and provides instructions for resolving them, ensuring that users establish connectivity rather than being left to wonder what is wrong. It detects and warns against suspected security problems such as the Evil Twin and potential Man-in-the-Middle Security Attacks. Supports networks secured with WEP, WPA-PSK, and open (unsecured) networks.

The Lucidlink WiFi Client in now available at Download.com.

New WiFi Security Product

An interesting new WiFi security product is now in beta testing called WiFi Login Pro. I had the opportunity to review the product a few weeks back. It is quite a clever WiFi Security solution - it supports WPA & WPA2, but rather than requiring the user to set up certificates for EAP-PEAP or EAP-TTLS, it uses the POP3 mail server to authenticate the user and let them on the network. This WiFi security product supports up to 100 users, is cost effective ($199), and is targeted at small businesses that need the same level of WiFi security that large corporations use without the hassle of a full blown RADIUS server. WiFi Login Pro is actually a RADIUS server that runs on a Windows Vista, 2003, XP, or 2000 PC. Unlike the complex set up of a RADIUS server, WiFi Login Pro simplifies the set up with a straight forward wizard and allows you to use your pre-existing POP3 e-mail server to authenticate users access to the WiFi network. WiFi Login Pro is available as a beta version right now. If you're interested in seeing a beta copy go to their web site at www.dazsoftware.com and click onthe download link.