[There's a reason that Yoda is the unofficial mascot of SBS. Size indeed matters not.] War-Train-ing anyone? - THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS DIVA
Fri, Sep 24 2004 22:35 bradley

War-Train-ing anyone?

On the train back from San Jose [well bus first then train actually] I’m sitting across from two young guys who suddenly discovered that they can set up an adhoc wireless connection between the two laptops that they have.  Me being..well…me… I’m thinking… do I lean over and ask if they have ensured that the wireless is going only to each other?  Ensure that their C: drive isn’t shared?  Ensure that that they have xp sp2 installed?  Ensure that the adhoc is secure?

 

Yeah, I know … really sick aren’t I?  Oh gawd… he just said “this says to enable file and print sharing I need to click here”.  Just for the heck of it, I’m firing up netstumbler just to snoop.  We have three APs… One is “HPSetup”, another is a DUSD wireless connection [must be catching a School district nearby and another one has the SSID of…. Well… this is a family blog and I’m not going to post what THAT one says ;-) 

 

You guys know about netstumbler and ministumbler right?  Two little programs one for your laptop, one for your PocketPC that can “sniff” and find wireless access points.  Right now I’m “War Train-ing” as I’m in an Amtrak.  When you set up a wireless connection, use one of these types of programs to “see what others see about you”. 

 

Download them, and do a little walking, driving around.  You would be surprised how insecurely people have their systems set up.

 

By the way, whomever has MAC address of 4EA4922736C9 with the SSID of hpsetup, the two young guys traveling to Hanford, California?  I’m the woman who was making the slightly funky faces from across the walkway as you were sharing out your music folder on an open ad hoc and you were laughing about a weird photo that you guys had pulled off some girl’s computer that didn’t realize that her computer was set up insecurely.

 

Just picked up another open wireless access for bfhsupply… must be a firm nearby.  Interesting that even on a pretty stationary traveling vehicle [a train for heavens sake] I’ve picked up 7 APs in about 10 minutes of “War Train-ing”.  I’ll be running netstumbler as we go Train-ing in North Fresno.

 

Well at least they are talking about “Do you have SP2 installed?” but then one is asking the other if he’s disabled the firewall.  Yo, dudes, make sure you have that ad-hoc wireless with the padlock because Netstumbler is saying it’s wide open.

 

We need to make SECURE wireless easier to do.  It’s still way too hard than it should be.  And yeah…. I really need a life, don’t I?

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# re: War-Train-ing anyone?

Saturday, September 25, 2004 12:54 PM by bradley

You are awesome Susan! By the way did you hear about the new little device that plugs into the High Speed Ethernet connection at your travel destination? It creates a quick wireless access point allowing the entire hotel to have wireless while you are visiting.

Guess you don't need to be carrying that router around with you anymore.

# re: War-Train-ing anyone?

Saturday, October 02, 2004 12:33 AM by bradley

Susan,

I did the same thing on the train from Seattle to Salem, OR. I was amazed to find the number of SSIDs being broadcast. If the train would have stopped for a bit longer, I'm sure my trip home could have been even more interesting!

# re: War-Train-ing anyone?

Saturday, December 04, 2004 10:02 AM by bradley

I may be intruding. If so, please ignore this note. I have found myself in an unfamiliar situation. I use a Dell Latitude 400, XP. I'm on wireless at the desk. Right now, however, I am using a friend's place out of town. Every time I turn on my computer I get a wireless signal (hpsetup) but don't know how to access it though it says it is 'configured for open access" and the signal strength is 'excellent.'

Is it possible for me to access this service. If so, how?

# re: War-Train-ing anyone?

Saturday, December 04, 2004 10:29 AM by bradley

Ping me at sbradcpa-at-pacbell.net and I can be a bit more direct than through a blog :-) You should be able to just click on it.... say connect... and it will go.