Help? with this weird device :s

[Nuffenburger]

Hello bit-tech

Theres this suss guy thats been like walking around my area with a device in his hand and it has a large antenna on it. and he points it at houses then walks off and "scans" another house.
I was just wondering if this is some sort of test for radiation or if he is looking for a wireless network to hack into.
He looks really suss.
this morning i walked out to help mum take the shopping out of the car. and he was walking past and took off over the road jumped in his car and drove off in a hurry.
If anybody knows about what he is doing or what he might possibly be doing could you help?

If he sticks around for more than 3 days im going to report him to the local authority and just tell him that he has been snooping around with a device in his hand every day.
I have his number plate and what type of car it is.
I will try getting a picture.


Thanks, Nuffenburger

[C-Sniper]

That sounds like someone trying to sniff for an open Wifi network to map it for war driving. I would report him to the authorities, if he is in a hurry when people are watching then i would be suspicious that he is up to no good.

[Nuffenburger]

thanks
but what do i say to the authorities.
im going to bee going for a walk at around 11-2 every now and then around streets to see if i can see his car again.
i did mention that i have his number plate so it shouldnt be to hard getting him caught if he is trying to find a wireless connection.
I don't use any means of wireless just my mobile.
However i am thinking i might go buy a wireless router today set it up as unsecured and see if he tries to get into that.
If he does he will most likely leave his mac address in the router but will i be able to do anything with that?
ive heard you can do something with them but not sure at this point.

[Amon]

Using your wireless hub to obtain his MAC address can be used as evidence.

[notatoad]

go ask him what he's doing. maybe it's not anything bad.

also, since when is using an unsecured wireless illegal? and since when do enlightened people on tech sites have a problem with it? i leave my wireless open in case anybody needs to use it, and i use open wireless whenever i find it. if somebody abuses my open wireless i block their mac.

[Nuffenburger]

Originally Posted by supertoad

go ask him what he's doing. maybe it's not anything bad.

also, since when is using an unsecured wireless illegal? and since when do enlightened people on tech sites have a problem with it? i leave my wireless open in case anybody needs to use it, and i use open wireless whenever i find it. if somebody abuses my open wireless i block their mac.

it's not like that here, i live in like a small suburb heaps of people do have wireless around me i know this because whilst setting up wireless for a mate i found about 8 different ones but that was about a year ago or so.
here if someone gets into your wireless they try to mess with every setting in your wireless hub changing passwords, resetting the modem every 5 minutes. I kinda feel sorry for a few people *who aren't young* that don't know jack all about wireless connections. and probably don't even know if they have it on or not because telstra have given them a wireless hub that haas it on by default.
I would hate if someone was stealing my internet. Most people can only afford 2gb-12gb a month i am lucky enough to have 2 connections *one which i pay for*
one is 25gb one is 50gb(25peak 25offpeak)
the reason i don't use wireless is because i hate the drop outs whilst playing online games.
Thanks for the replies though.
I will ask the police what i should do. maybe they will say if he comes around again and scans multiple times then contact us again. etc.


Thanks

[notatoad]

if you don't want them screwing with your settings, secure your router. if you don't want them using your internet, don't leave it open. if you have open wireless and no password on your router, you deserve whatever you get. leaving your wireless open and then calling the cops when somebody tries to use it seems incredibly dickish to me.

you don't have wireless, so this guy isn't hurting you at all. but you're still willing to call the police on him. if you are concerned for your neighbors, maybe you should talk to them before the police. maybe they don't mind, or maybe they do mind but the situation could be resolved by telling them their wireless is open, and telling them how they can fix it.

[talladega]

Originally Posted by C-Sniper

That sounds like someone trying to sniff for an open Wifi network to map it for war driving.

What does that mean? Sounds interesting.

[Fod]

Originally Posted by supertoad

also, since when is using an unsecured wireless illegal? and since when do enlightened people on tech sites have a problem with it? i leave my wireless open in case anybody needs to use it, and i use open wireless whenever i find it. if somebody abuses my open wireless i block their mac.

it's both the law, and the principle. it's illegal to access a network you're not authorised to. an unsecured WAP does NOT mean you're automatically granted permission to use it. as for the principle, you might not use an open WAP for nefarious deeds, but you're a bit naive to think that someone who is interested in actively scanning for and mapping open WAPs isn't going to be doing _something_ weird. would you want that happening on your network?

if i were you i would seriously reconsider the ramifications of running an open WAP. if you must, run a FON router.

[kenco_uk]

Aye, the worrying thing is that a wardriving paedophile could use your 'open' wlan.

[Charel]

Since when was it illegal to scan for wireless networks?

[Shadow_101]

heh I’d quite like to hear the police response...

"PHILL cancel the response to the mugging, some ones scanning for free wireless! - Get over there ASAP!"

Considering the police don’t overly care about £1,000's worth of eBay fraud, I think there care-factor might be around 0.001...

[Fod]

Originally Posted by Charel

Since when was it illegal to scan for wireless networks?

scanning? since never. but his behaviour (running away when approached) is some cause for concern.

[pranks7er]

tv license inspector

[steveo_mcg]

Nuffenburger
The Burgerman Can

Posts: 55
Location: G-town/ Australia
Join Date: Sep 2007

Probably not

[pranks7er]

Originally Posted by steveo_mcg

Probably not

but there may be a auzzie version

oh wait no they abloished it

[steveo_mcg]

Not for a while

Originally Posted by WIKI

Australia

Radio licence fees were introduced in Australia in the 1920s to fund the first privately owned broadcasters which were not permitted to sell advertising. With the formation of the government-owned Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932 the licence fees were used to fund ABC broadcasts while the privately owned stations were permitted to seek revenue from advertising and sponsorship. Television licence fees were also introduced in 1956 when the ABC began TV transmissions. All licence fees were abolished in 1974 by the Australian Labor Party government led by Gough Whitlam on the basis that the near-universality of television and radio services meant that public funding was a fairer method of providing revenue for government-owned radio and television broadcasters. The ABC has since then been funded by government grants, now totalling around A$800 million a year, and its own commercial activities (merchandising, overseas sale of programmes, etc.). In the early 1990s, passing criticism of ABC content was often referred to by the term "where your 8 cents a day goes", referring to the cost each Australian was indirectly contributing to the ABC.

[pranks7er]

Originally Posted by talladega

What does that mean? Sounds interesting.

Wardriving
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

A free public Wi-Fi access pointWardriving is the act of searching for Wi-Fi wireless networks by a person in a moving vehicle, using a portable computer or PDA.

Software for wardriving is freely available on the Internet, notably NetStumbler for Windows, Kismet or SWScanner for Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and DragonFly BSD, and KisMac for Macintosh. There are also homebrew wardriving applications for handheld game consoles that support Wi-fi, such as sniff_jazzbox for the Nintendo DS, Road Dog for the Sony PSP and Stumbler for the iPhone.


Antennas
Main article: Antenna (radio)
Cantenna
WokFi
Wireless access point receivers can be modified to extend their ability for picking up and connecting to wireless access points. This can be done with an ordinary metal wire, and a metal dish that is used to form a directional antenna. Other similar devices can be modified in this way too, likewise, not only directional antennas can be created, but USB-WiFi-stick antennas can be used as well. Tools such as Wireless Grapher Widget can be used to measure out the antenna.

[Nuffenburger]

haha so your bagging me out for being aussie.
If so then you have nothing to bagg out.
Aussies are the best
Im sure every country says that about their own people
but aussies are the best.
Since when do you hear a chinese guy say Gday mate.
or Want a beer?
seriously
ask french guy what the word cheers means.




farrkk i could go antoher beer right now.
i think i drank to much
haha
not.
can never drink to much

[Cthippo]

But why use a directional antenna then? Seems like you would want an omni for wardriving.

Do you have cable TV down there? Maybe he works for the cable company and is looking for cable thieves.