Thursday, July 23, 2009

Wardriving: Australian Police to combat WiFi Fraud

The Queensland (Australia) Police fraud squad says it will be the first police force in the world to go on "wardriving" missions to warn homes and businesses if their wireless networks are not secure.

Detective Superintendent Brian Hay said criminals were piggy-backing on the WiFi connections of ordinary computer users and using them to anonymously commit crimes such as fraud and identity theft.

The process of searching for open wireless networks using a laptop or handheld in a moving vehicle is known in the geek community as "wardriving".

Many home networks can be accessed by anyone within range because strong security settings are often not enabled and passwords are rarely changed from the default setting.

It is important for police to get "ahead of the game" as crooks were now sharing information on satellite maps showing vulnerable areas with large numbers of unsecured networks.

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Who am I?

I am a law enforcement professional with over 35 years experience in both sworn and civilian positions. I have service in 3 different countries in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

My principal areas of expertise are: (1) Intelligence, (2) Training and Development, (3) Knowledge Management, and (4) Administration/Supervision.

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