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Wardriving

War driving is a wireless reconnaissance technique where an attacker travels through an area using a device to scan for insecure or open Wi-Fi networks. It is commonly used to identify vulnerable targets with minimal access controls.

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About this video

War driving is a form of wireless reconnaissance in which an attacker travels through a geographic area while actively scanning for Wi-Fi networks using a laptop, smartphone, or other capable device running network discovery software. The method is straightforward and requires minimal technical sophistication — the attacker simply moves through populated areas and collects information about the wireless networks broadcasting within range. The term reflects the most common scenario, a person driving through neighborhoods or business districts, though the same technique applies on foot, by bicycle, or any other mode of travel. The primary objective is to locate open or inadequately secured wireless access points that can serve as easy entry points into a network. Businesses with default router configurations, missing encryption, or no authentication requirements are particularly attractive targets. Because war driving requires only basic equipment and no prior relationship with the target, it remains a practical method for attackers seeking opportunistic access to networks with minimal security hardening.

What you'll learn

Aligned to

CompTIA PenTest+
4.7 Given a scenario, perform wireless attacks using the appropriate tools.
EC-Council CEH
6.1 Hacking Wireless Networks
CompTIA Security+
2.2 Explain common threat vectors and attack surfaces.
NIST NICE
K0925 Knowledge of wireless communication tools and techniques

Key terms

War Driving
A wireless reconnaissance technique where an attacker travels through an area using a device to scan for and identify open or insecure Wi-Fi networks.
Wireless Access Point
WAP
A device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi.
Vulnerability
A weakness in a system, application, or process that can be exploited by a threat actor.
Reconnaissance
The first phase of an attack in which an adversary gathers information about a target — such as open ports, employee names, and technology stacks — before launching an attack. Reconnaissance can be passive (using public sources) or active (directly probing the target).

Topics

Wardriving Wireless Security Wi Fi Network Reconnaissance Ethical Hacking Networking

Transcript

Wardriving is a type of wireless attack, or wireless reconnaissance. The name itself gives us a hint on what this is all about. Driving is in the name. That means that this is somebody who's driving around. Maybe it's in a car, or maybe it's on a bicycle and they're riding around. Whatever the case may be, it's wardriving.

It's this idea that you're going to be going and traveling around looking for wireless networks, insecure wireless networks. Maybe there's some easy targets out there. A lot of this is trying to hit the low-hanging fruit, something that's a real easy target because it's an insecure network. So if you were to get your laptop, load some software on there that allows you to scan wireless networks, jump in your car and start driving around, this would be wardriving.

Wardriving could be any device that you're using to scan these networks, and it could be in a car or bicycle or whatever the case may be, but the concept still is the same, that you're driving around. And if we find businesses that are insecure, this could be just a great way to find a target that's an easy target.

So here's the attack card on wardriving. It's just driving around to find open Wi-Fi hotspots.

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