Stefan Puffer, who worked for Harris County’s technology
department in 1999, was indicted with two counts of fraud for
allegedly hacking into the county district clerk’s wireless
computer system. No files were compromised, but the county had to
shut down the wireless system a month after it was set up.
According to the report, Puffer showed a county official how he
was able to use his laptop computer and a wireless card to tap into
the system. Puffer’s argument that he was acting as an ethical
hacker appears to have been rejected by county officials because he
had no contract in place with them before accessing their
system.
Puffer apparently discovered the county court’s vulnerability
when scanning for wireless network weaknesses throughout Houston.
He claimed in another Houston Chronicle report that he accessed
home, government, university and business computer systems.
If convicted, Puffer could be sentenced to up to 5 years in
prison and a £250,000 fine on each count.
The practice of touring a city with a laptop and a wireless
network card in search of accessible wireless networks has become
known as “wardriving.” A variation on this is “warchalking” which
has been receiving a lot of recent media attention.
Warchalking is the use of chalk symbols marked in public places
to indicate to others the existence of an accessible wireless
network. Different symbols are used to describe the nature of the
network.
Piggy-backing on wireless networks is not just about hacking
confidential information – it is most popular simply as a means of
free internet access. However, the security aspect is vital for any
company with a wireless network to consider. ISPs are also
concerned that an increased use of this practice could damage their
revenues.
For more information, see: www.warchalking.org
