Techzone/War Driving

War Driving

3 min readArticle

War driving (also wardiving/WiFi mapping) is the act of searching for wireless networks from a moving vehicle (or on foot — "war walking"). The goal is to map wireless network locations, SSIDs, encryption types, signal strengths, and GPS coordinates. It's done passively — just listening, never connecting.

Purpose

  • Security research — understand wireless density in an area
  • Pre-engagement recon — identify target org's wireless footprint
  • Building databases — WiGLE and similar crowdsourced databases
  • Coverage analysis — assess WiFi coverage for a location
  • Finding weak encryption — WEP, open networks, WPS-enabled APs

Legal Status

War driving is legally complex. In most jurisdictions:

  • Passive monitoring (just listening) is generally legal
  • Connecting to networks without authorization is illegal
  • Laws vary by country — research before doing it
  • Always get written permission for professional engagements

Equipment

Minimum kit:

  • Laptop or Raspberry Pi
  • External WiFi adapter (Alfa AWUS036ACH or similar)
  • USB GPS dongle (Globalsat BU-353S4 is common)
  • Directional or omnidirectional antenna (optional)
  • Power bank if mobile

Optional upgrades:

  • High-gain antenna for better range
  • Multiple adapters for multi-band scanning
  • Raspberry Pi for unmanned/autonomous operation
  • Car mount / suction cup holder for antenna

Tools

Kismet (Linux — Recommended)

bash 
# Install
sudo apt install kismet

# Start with GPS
sudo gpsd /dev/ttyUSB0   # Start GPS daemon
sudo kismet -c wlan0     # Start Kismet

# Web UI: http://localhost:2501
# Logs automatically with GPS coordinates

See kismet-wifi-discovery for full notes.

Wireshark / tshark

bash 
# Capture all WiFi management frames
sudo tshark -i wlan0mon -w wardrive.pcap

# Filter beacons
tshark -r wardrive.pcap -Y "wlan.fc.subtype == 8" \
  -T fields -e wlan.bssid -e wlan.ssid -e radiotap.dbm_antsignal

WiGLE WiFi App (Android)

Simplest option for phone-based wardriving:

  1. Install WiGLE WiFi app from Play Store
  2. Enable GPS and WiFi
  3. Drive/walk around
  4. The app logs everything automatically
  5. Upload to WiGLE.net when done

GPS Setup (Linux)

bash 
# Install gpsd
sudo apt install gpsd gpsd-clients

# Test GPS dongle
sudo gpsd /dev/ttyUSB0 -F /var/run/gpsd.sock

# Verify GPS data
cgps -s
gpspipe -w -n 5

# Kismet auto-connects to gpsd

War Driving Data Format

Kismet logs to .kismet SQLite database files. Each AP record contains:

  • BSSID
  • SSID
  • Channel
  • Encryption type
  • GPS coordinates (lat/long)
  • Signal strength (dBm)
  • First/last seen timestamps
  • Manufacturer (from MAC OUI)

Processing Results

bash 
# Convert Kismet log to CSV
kismetdb_dump_devices --in wardriving.kismet

# Convert to pcap for Wireshark
kismetdb_to_pcap --in wardriving.kismet --out output.pcap

# Upload to WiGLE
# Via web: wigle.net/tools → Upload → select .kismet file
# Via API (see WiGLE notes)

Uploading to WiGLE

WiGLE accepts Kismet logs, pcap files, and CSV formats:

bash 
# In Kismet: enable WiGLE upload in kismet.conf
wigle_api_key=your_api_key
wigle_enabled=true

Or upload manually at wigle.net/tools

Finding Open/Weak Networks

bash 
# After capturing, filter for open networks
tshark -r wardrive.pcap -Y "wlan.fc.subtype == 8" \
  -T fields -e wlan.ssid -e wlan.rsn.capabilities

# Use Kismet's built-in alerting for weak security
# Settings → Alerts → Configure WEP/Open network alerts

Sub-pages

  • kismet-wifi-discovery - Main war driving tool
  • wigle-wifi-geolocation-database - Database to contribute/query data
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