Hackers/Crackers at work?
Sorry for the crappy image quality shot from my el cheapo phone from inside my car with my tinted window up.
I couldn’t help but to notice this particular car when I was walking to the Select Store to buy myself a pack of ciggys. Mounted on the roof of the car is a wireless antenna and a GPS receiver. The driver was on his seat and I saw a notebook on the passenger side seat. There were also 2 clamtype cellphone mounted on the dashboard of the car.
After I came out from the shop, another guy came out from the back and got in the passenger side. He pointed towards the back of the building and the driver got out to check it out (as shown on the photo). The back portion of the building would lead to another side of the compound and also an alley to the toilet.
What could they be doing? Cracking WEP or sniffing traffic (probably already cracked WEP) of wireless handheld terminals used in the petrol station? One thing is for sure. The eyes of the driver was glued on the notebook when I walked pass. Or could their setup be purely work related and they’re just taking turns to the toilet? Or could they be only harmless hackers collecting data for statistics?
Whatever it is, do not use your credit card on wireless handheld terminals offered by the attendants.
Tags : hacker, cracker, wireless, antenna, gps receiver, notebook, cellphone, cracking WEP, sniffing traffic, wireless handheld terminals, credit card
Oh, you didn’t say hi to them? Who knows, maybe you can get a share too…
Neo: If I want to I can do it myself
Somewhat off topic but related…
My dad has wireless Internet access in his house. He asked me to help him secure it. I did manage to do some basic security, i.e. change the admin password, hide the SSID and change it to a difficult, non-dictionary name, limit the number of connections to the network, etc. The problem comes with the encryption. When I turn encryption on, the signal to the other PCs have limited or no connection at all. I’m a PC whiz, but I’m more of a software person over a hardware person. I’m trying to figure out what I need to boost the wireless signal throughout his house when encryption is on. Does he need antennas or a stronger router? In any case, the encryption is not on until I figure this out. I warned him not to do any kind of transactions on the PCs that are wireless.
Did you by any chance enter the encryption key on all the other PCs? You need to, if not what’s the use of enabling encryption?
Having limited connections or no connection would mean you do not have access to the network because of encryption.
Turning on encryption will not affect signal strengh although it may affect bandwidth by a weeeeeee bit (usually not noticable).
Even if his computer is connected via cable to a wireless router, he would be at risk if the wireless network is not properly secured.
You should also enable MAC filtering to step up the security. This will only allow known MAC addresses into the network. It can be defeated by cloning but having an extra step would help.
Try to use WPA encryption if possible, if not use WEP 128bit Open mode.
Good luck
I think the driver was watching the World Cup.
Yep, I entered the encryption key on all the PCs, but the connection was nonexistant. I think I tried WPA, but I know for sure I tried WEP 128 bit, even 64 bit, on Open mode. No dice. The other PCs had no signal (limited or no connection). The only PC that could connect to the Internet was the host computer.
I know I still need to limit the MAC addresses to just the PCs in his house. That’s on my to-do list. I was just trying to get some research on the encryption thing and figure out why, when it’s enabled on all PCs, they can’t connect to the Internet. I’m truly stumped on that. The encryption key is entered on the other PCs, but the signal strength is as dead as Britney Spears’ career.
kris: The live game don’t happen in the morning
Unless they’re watching reruns. LoL
Hive Mind: Ahh … so you’re using a host computer to dial out to the Internet? I suppose what you have is a wireless AP and not a wireless router. If that is the case, check if you have a valid IP assigned to your other computers. The gateway should point to your host computer.
Usually when it says limited connection, it would mean that you do not have IPs set properly or assigned automatically OR the encryption key is not working. Make sure to use HEX instead of the password generator just to be sure.
Try to set the correct set of IPs manually on one of the client PCs and see if works. If the IPs are set correctly, try to ping the host computer to see if you have a network link.
But then again, with encryption OFF it works fine … I don’t see why it should not work unless you probably missed some encryption settings which I can’t think of. Perhaps Kevin Federline came over and totally messed up your AP. Good Luck
They are probabally searching for their stolen car, with GPS mounted inside.
Hate to “spam” your comments with a conversation about Wi-Fi security. Gotta e-mail address? I got some new results after trying again yesterday. I think I know what’s going on with the signal issues, but I want to be sure that this is really the issue. Thanks.
I think I came upon the same car at Tesco Shah Alam. The driver drives VERY slowly on the parking lot, and the guy on the passenger seat was with a notebook, opening an app, which I cannot tell for sure. My hunch is that they are hunting for laptops left in the car by careless users, I think they can detect small blips from the wifi cards even on laptops that is not fully powered up. Be careful guys, do not leave your lappies in the car unattended.
And if you happen to find these guys, please contact the local security.
peasant: Notebooks turned off won’t be transmitting any WiFi signals or else it will drain the battery very fast. With a setup like that I don’t think they’re going after notebooks.