Cruising hackers can tap into open wireless connections, unless users take precautions

By LIA STEAKLEY

YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

he scene could have been a scene from a computer hacker movie.

A nondescript pickup cruises Yakima as a laptop on its front seatsearches the airwaves for wireless network connections. Within 15minutes, the screen shows about 150 connections. Several are open,which allow anyone with a laptop and wireless network card to surfthe Internet on someone else's dime.

Without security measures in place, hackers can gain access topersonal information, such as credit card numbers. In some cases,they can obtain enough information to shut users out of their e-mailaccount or home network, said Northwest Infonet owner Forbes Mercy,who took the Yakima Herald-Republic along on a tour of Yakima's openwireless networks.

To the tech-savvy, hunting vulnerable Internet connections iscalled "war-driving." A legal practice, war-driving involves mountingan antennae atop a car and linking it to a laptop computer runningspecial software that searches for networks and provides detailedinformation about each connection, including which ones areprotected.

If users don't change default passwords -- those pre-set bymanufacturers -- or register their computer identification numberwith a modem, then war-driving can quickly turn into an opportunityto peruse private information stored on computers from across thestreet.

Unprotected networks are a rampant problem that not only endangershouseholds but entire communities and the nation, according thefederal Department of Homeland Security.

And while it's easy to find open networks, it's harder to knowwhether hackers have gained access or what they're doing.

"We're all human beings and we don't always read every page of theinstruction manual," said Mike Hathaway, a security specialist forCharter Communications, based in St. Louis, Mo. "In most cases, theywouldn't know there was a problem unless whoever was using thenetwork attempted to do some damage to files."

According to the FBI, the increasing popularity of wirelesstechnology is making it significantly more difficult to captureonline criminals.

When federal agents locate the building housing the Internetconnection being used for illegal activities, they find it isn'toccupied by the criminal. Instead, the scofflaw sat in the building'sparking lot, used a residential Internet connection without theowner's knowledge and drove away without a trace.

Last October, the U.S. Secret Service arrested 28 people in eightstates and six foreign countries involved in a identity theft ringthat trafficked at least 1.7 million stolen credit card numbers.About half the suspects regularly used others' wireless networks tooperate Web sites offering counterfeit credit cards and falseidentification documents, which resulted in an approximate loss of$4.3 million to financial institutions, according to the agency'sreport.

Yakima Internet service providers agree residents and businessesshould secure wireless networks by creating new passwords whensetting up a system and ensuring only certain laptops or otherdevices are allowed to log on to their specific network. Thesemeasures slightly differ for each service provider and devicemanufacturer but instructions should be included in user manuals.

"These security features will stop many potential hackers, but wecannot guarantee that all hackers will be stopped by these securityfeatures," said Shasha Richardson, Qwest spokesperson. "Therecurrently is not a wireless-networking solution available in theindustry that is 100 percent hacker proof."