Update Your Devices: Always install updates to ensure the most up-to-date patches and security on your hardware and software.
Use a Firewall: Firewalls block unapproved communication and any attempts to access your system.
Add a Guest Network: Set up a guest WiFi network for visitors and smart technologies that connect to the internet to limit the access of those less-secure devices.
#ISTUMBLER ALTERNATIVES PASSWORD#
Update the Password: Change the default password on your router and use multi-factor authentication when available.
Enable Encryption : Choose the highest network security protocol when opting for WEP, WPA, and WPA2 and never leave your network open or without a security protocol.
In either case, it’s best practice to protect your WiFi network from these types of breaches. While some wardriving practices are harmless, there’s also the potential for hackers to utilize your network to commit online crimes with the connection registered to you or steal personal data with the purpose of exploitation. Wardrivers typically engage in this type of hacking with criminal intent.
Smartphone or Laptop: May be used to run access point mapping software.
Wireless network card and antenna: While some wardrivers use their phone’s built-in antenna, some will use a wireless network card or antenna to improve scanning capabilities.
GPS: A GPS, whether from a smartphone or standalone device, helps wardrivers log the location of wireless acccess points.
#ISTUMBLER ALTERNATIVES SOFTWARE#
Wardriving software or app: Popular wardriving programs include iStumbler, KisMAC, CoWPAtty, InSSIDer, WiGLE, NetStumbler, WiFi-Where, and WiFiphisher.
Larger attacks, however, usually require an entire rig with software and hardware specifically designed for the attack. Wardriving on a small scale can be done with a simple app on a smartphone. Ethical hackers do this via wardriving for the purpose of finding vulnerabilities in order to improve overall security. The final reason is to find the security flaws of a network. The second is to use your network for criminal activity that you, as the owner of the network, would be liable for. The first is to steal personal and banking information. There are three primary reasons wardrivers look for unsecured WiFi. 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. They may intend to only find a single network or every network within an area. Wardrivers will use hardware and software to find WiFi signals in a particular area. Wardriving consists of physically searching for wireless networks with vulnerabilities from a moving vehicle and mapping the wireless access points. While there are no specific laws about wardriving, the data procured can be used to exploit unsecured networks, which becomes a grey area of protecting personal privacy. In 2001, that process evolved into access point mapping or wardriving, which involves finding vulnerable WiFi networks to exploit. The origins of wardriving can be traced back to the hacking done by Matthew Broderick in the film “WarGames.” In the movie, he dialed every phone number in the area in order to find all existing computers.