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