3 Comments

Experiment in NYC

December 8, 2004 by in Tech with 3 Comments

Today, I decided to conduct a little test in the streets of NYC. I wanted to see how many open internet access points there were in NYC in a 12 block radius. The only way to accomplish this, wardriving. If you are not familiar with the term Wardriving is an activity consisting of driving around with a laptop or a PDA in a vehicle, detecting Wi-Fi wireless networks.

Well, I must say the results shocked me in 12 square blocks, I can safely say I discovered THOUSANDS of open access points. Matter of fact I generated a 1,286 page PDF, showing how many access points are OPEN. This includes DOCTOR OFFICES, and MEDICAL CENTERS!!! Kind of scary that someone with an open laptop can potentially have access to medical records, and corporate secrets.

My public service announcement: ENCRYPT your web traffic over your wireless router.

(Note: Access points are listed more then once if they dropped out of signal range and back again)

STAY TUNED: Next week, I will be bringing a GPS unit with me to map these locations.


  • Derek

    wow… im surprised to hear that you were able to find so many open networks. i’ve done something similar here in the seattle area and most people were smart enough to lockdown their networks.

    that is going to be amusing to see the access points mapped out using gps. free wifi for all huh/

  • xeon

    Well, maybe i should take my laptop with me next time i go into the city, wait, i wont cause its to damn big!
    Anyway, i cant beleive you had the paitence to go through all of them.

  • http://none Sluggo

    where in the city was this? Sounds like the makings for a good story in the Post….

    Send it on. Good PR

    Long Live Uneasy Silence..

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