Wardriving consists of physically searching for wireless networks with vulnerabilities from a moving vehicle and mapping the wireless access points. Wardrivers will use hardware and software to find WiFi signals in a particular area. They may intend to only find a single network or every network within an area. Once networks are located, wardrivers will record the locations of vulnerable networks and may submit the information to third-party websites and apps to create digital maps. [1]

Figure 1. Hardware and Software Tools for Wardriving

Figure 1 shows wardriving involves attackers searching for wireless networks with vulnerabilities while moving around an area in a moving vehicle. They use hardware and software to discover unsecured Wi-Fi networks then gain unauthorized access to the network by cracking passwords or decrypting the router. The attacker then records vulnerable network locations on digital maps, known as access point mapping, and may share that information with third-party applications and websites. [2]

Hardware and Software Tools for WarDriving

All hardware and software components that are used while wardriving are collectively known as Rig. There is no hard and fast rule regarding what types of devices or software are used by your friendly wardriver neighbor. But in order to perform successful Wi-Fi driving, you need to use some specialized hardware and software. Let’s take a look at some tools:

1. Hardware Tools for WarDriving:

There are several hardware tools are required to perform Wardriving.

• A mobile device: This is a basic prerequisite for performing wardriving. You need a mobile computing platform like laptops, tablets, smartphones, or any other device like Raspberry Pi. These are used to subvert encryption and manage the overall process.
• Wireless network card antenna: This is the most critical component of a wardriving setup. Wardrivers may opt to use a built-in antenna and card, or they can go for additional hardware to increase the scanning power of the device.
• GPS System: The GPS system is used to determine the exact location of the Wi-Fi router that has been located. Many of the wardriving devices have built-in GPS capabilities.

2. Software Tools for Wardriving:

The primary piece of software which will be used in wardriving is an application that will be used to crack the passwords of WEP and WPA encrypted networks. There is another category of applications that are used to generate maps of the network neighborhood. There are many such software applications are available for use depending upon the operating system you prefer. This certainly not an exhaustive list of all software applications that can be used to hack a Wi-Fi network, but it will definitely give you an idea of the types of tools that are available. [3]

References:

1. https://www.pandasecurity.com/en/mediacenter/security/wardriving/
2. https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/wardriving
3. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/wardriving-introduction/

Cite this article:

Thanusri swetha J (2021), Hardware and Software Tools for Wardriving, Anatechmaz, pp. 46