THG Takes to the Air for Wi-Fi 'War Flying"

Tom's Hardware Guide Columns: THG Takes to the Air for Wi-Fi 'War Flying" - Conclusion


Team Tomshardware found 1433 access points with 380 encrypted and 1053 unencrypted. Team Dailywireless found 3151 access points with 1026 encrypted and 2125 unencrypted. Dailywireless found more WAPs because of higher powered antennas and the Kismet program. Kismet is able to detect WAPs that NetStumbler misses, like WAPs with cloaked SSIDs. Some WAPs have a "Cloak SSID" feature that allows them to operate without blasting out the SSID to the world.

As our figures show, most people buy a WAP and then plug it into their cable/DSL connection. They don't worry or care about security. This is the wrong attitude to have, as they have provided a wide open door into their network. Anyone with a laptop and wireless card can drive up and access their wireless network. At best, the hacker gets free Internet. At worst, the hacker can browse private documents.

All WAPs have security that can be easily turned on. We urge WAPs purchasers to spend the few extra minutes to read the manual and then turn on Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) security. While WEP is not perfect, it is definitely better than leaving your WAP wide open.