Cat detects open or poorly protected WiFi networks

Aug 12, 2014 13:48 GMT  ·  By

A security researcher built a wardriving kit and attached it to the collar of a cat in order to collect WiFi data from the areas roamed by the feline; the details showed that eight wireless networks in the neighborhood were either open or had poor security protection.

Gene Bransfield, security researcher for Tenacity Solutions, used Coco, a Siamese cat belonging to his wife’s grandmother, for the wardriving purposes.

Wardriving is basically searching for WiFi networks and collecting details while moving, and it is generally carried out while walking or driving a bike through the neighborhood; but at DefCon something special was needed.

So, Bransfield, with the help of his family and friends, managed to build a toolkit that allowed scanning for WiFi and gathering the data. The device also featured a GPS module for tracking the cat.

With the unit attached, Coco started the daily prowling activities, and when it came home, it also delivered the news about the vulnerable WiFi networks.

It appears that from the 23 networks scanned in three hours, four of them had no access protection and another four relied on the vulnerable WEP encryption standard.

The device built by Bransfield consisted in a Spark Core chip with custom firmware, a WiFi card for picking the signals, a GPS and a battery to power everything up.