Hacking The Law

WARDRIVING: Alice at Home

So, let's begin with one example (I call this one "Alice, at home."). Alice uses her laptop at the office with a wireless PCMCIA card. On an atypical weekend, she brings the laptop home and, just for the heck of it, searches from her living room to see if there are any access points nearby.

To her surprise, Alice finds an access point with the uncommon SSID "linksys." The access point is a strong signal (probably from a neighbor) and has no WEP. Just "for the heck of it," she clicks "connect," and finds herself automagically the proud owner of a DHCP-supplied IP address with the power to browse auction web sites in Cambodia. She writes about this in her weblog, which is picked up by the FBI, and John Ashcroft and company are musing what shall be done with Alice.

Wardriving: where is the line? (Part One)

Wardriving, a term derived from the hackerese term "Wardialing," is no longer an obscure techie term. With the price of laptops and wireless cards at an all-time low, many computer users are discovering the joy of Wi-Fi connectivity. Amazed to learn that they may be able to "jack-in" just about anywhere, more and more "normal folk" are stumbling their way through the jungle of wide-open wireless connectivity. Talk is now shared around the water cooler about wireless hot-spots.

And so the question goes -- is any of this legal? If some such conduct is legal, but not others, where do we draw the line?

Put more particularly, which, if any of the following actions are lawful?

• Using traditional wireless card software to search for access points.
  
• Using wardriving software to search for access points.
  
• Using wardriving software and a special antenna to search for access points.
  
• Accidentally using an access point without WEP for internet services, without realizing you have been doing so.
  
• Having found an access point without WEP, connecting to the site to see if it is truly open.
  
• Having found an access point without WEP and a DHCP server, connecting to the site and using it for browsing and checking one's e-mail.
  
• Having found an access point without WEP and no DHCP server, guessing a free IP address in the subnet and router address and using them to browse and checking e-mail
  
• Having found an access point with WEP, guessing a password and using the site for browsing and checking one's e-mail.