By Jo Best, 16 December 2004 12:00
NEWS A US man has received the longest jail sentence yet for hacking - a court in North Carolina sentenced him to nine years in prison after he was convicted of breaking into a hardware store's computer system.
The 21-year-old had hacked into the system in the hope of getting hold of customers' credit card details but was largely unsuccessful, according to reports.
Along with an accomplice, he managed to obtain access to the Lowe's chain of hardware store's system by way of its unsecured Wi-Fi network after the pair went 'wardriving'.
The men installed a modified credit-processing program on the company's central network, as well as individual stores' systems, to capture shoppers' financial details but their activities were discovered after their modification of the program caused several point-of-sale machines to crash. Lowe's then called the FBI in.
His wardriving accomplice and another man await sentencing in connection to the case. The man, Brian Salcedo, pleaded guilty earlier this year to wire fraud and hacking charges.
Salcedo has now taken the record for longest sentence for a hacking crime, previously held by Kevin Mitnick, who was sentenced to five and a half years behind bars.
The severity of the sentencing reflects the potential financial damage the men could have done if they had been successful - a figure the government put at $2.5m.
However, the sentence could have been several years longer. Salcedo's jail time was reduced in return for his cooperation in helping the home improvement chain tighten its security.
Comments
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1. David Gaskill
Please could somebody define "Wardriving"? Here in Hong Kong we don't always get the latest English language updates...
David
2. Jason Smith
David,
I believe "wardriving" is defined as driving around in your car scanning for open wireless connections in towns/cities with a laptop. It's amazing how many wireless connections even at large coporate offices or stores/shops are not properly locked down...
Jason
3. Jamie
For the benefit of David Gaskill:
"Wardriving" is the practice of driving around with a laptop/pda searching for insecure wi-fi networks.
4. Roj Ash
Apparently we don't always get them in England - I've never heard the term either.
5. Philip Bouscarle
Wardriving means driving around an area looking for unencrypted open wifi access points (I think!)
6. Simon Curry
Wardriving - don't know who created the term. A term used for people who drive around looking for wireless networks. Not all wardrivers are maliceous. Some just borrow the connection. Irs suprising how many unsecure networks there are!
7. fnord
apparently it comes from wardialling, an ancient hacking method using dialup modems
8. anonymous
I hadn't heard the term 'wardialling' before, but guessed what it must mean as I suspect it came from the term 'warchalking'. This is the practice of leaving chalkmarks on the pavement or wall in an area where an unprotected wireless network has been found so that others can use it. I would also guess that this term links back to the 'wardialling' reference posted by 'fnord'.
Anyway, nice to see that the courts are taking fraud seriously no matter how it's attempted.
9. Bernice Roust
Thi is a typical silcon.com headline - the high sentence is for the blatent attempt to defraud not so much the wardriving which when sucssesful can be argued as the fault of the lax security of the network as that of the perpitrator.
10. anonymous
Wardialling comes from the movie War Games where the main character systematically dialled every phone number in a number of area codes looking for a computer games company to hack. He actually found NORAD instead. Classic movie.
11. Jason Smith
David,
I believe "wardriving" is defined as driving around in your car scanning for open wireless connections in towns/cities with a laptop. It's amazing how many wireless connections even at large coporate offices or stores/shops are not properly locked down...
Jason
12. Joe Whitehead
WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY A GAME?
That line is a classic...
13. anonymous
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Wardriving is an activity consisting of driving around with a laptop or a PDA in one's vehicle, detecting Wi-Fi wireless networks. It is also known (as of 2002) as WiLDing (Wireless Lan Driving), originating in the USA with the Bay Area Wireless Users Group (BAWUG). It is similar to using a scanner for radio. Most wardrivers will use GPS devices to find the exact location of the network found and log it on a website. For better range, antennas are built or bought, and vary from omnidirectional to fully directional. Software for wardriving is freely available on the internet,
Wardriving shares similarities to Wardialing in name only.
While some wardrivers do engage in malicious activity, the average wardriver is typically only out to log and collect information from the Access Points (AP's) they find while driving. Even so, most Companies would not want details of their unsecured and 'open to all' WLAN posted onto the Internet for all to see (would you post details of your neighbours unsecured front door - or get upset if some-one posted details of your unsecured garage - and the serial number of your car ignition key ?)).
Less law-abiding 'wardrivers' search for open file servers from which to copy software or media files which is presumably illegal in most countries. In the USA, accessing the files on an open network is illegal, however it is not illegal to simply use the internet connection of an open wireless network (the law differs in other countries - for example in UK you would be caught by the 'use of a computer for a purpose for which you do not have permission' clause). This is a commonly misunderstood concept. Most wardrivers do not in fact use services without authorization.
14. Tom
If there were more free hotspots. Also if Wireless Internet became more readilty available at a reasonable price say £10-£20 per month.Perrhaps the mobile phone companies could help here. Why should we get ripped off by the likes of BT Openzone who charge £6.00 for 1 hour of internet surfing.I think wardriving would die out. I mean one doesn't always want the hassle of havng to sit in a car surfing the internet.If there was ready and cheap availability I for one would not wardrve anymore.