Criminals Steal Credit Card Data Just By Wardriving

Anime doll holding VISA card
A federal grand jury in Boston has charged eleven people with the theft of more than 41 million credit and debit card numbers from retail stores. What makes this case interesting is that, although the defendants stole the data from retail establishments, they did so without ever having to leave their cars; they stole the numbers while wardriving. While the report doesn’t make it clear whether the targeted networks used weak encryption or were simply unsecured, it’s obvious that the security of your data is still not a top priority for many companies.

[photo: Mujitra]

24 thoughts on “Criminals Steal Credit Card Data Just By Wardriving

  1. If said criminals are stealing credit card data than they are connecting to the wireless networks and thus NOT wardriving. Get your fucking shit right. Wardriving is PASSIVE scanning for WiFi equipment – wardriving never involves connecting to an access point. Wardriving is a perfectly legitimate activity with real uses. Wardrivers tend to get a bad name because of people like you who just reprint stuff that they find on other people’s site like it is fact without knowing anything about it.
    That being said, here’s an idea for a new guideline for the HAD staff: If you don’t know anything about it, don’t post it. Leave it for someone who does, or at least consult them as to the accuracy of the item.
    Joe.

  2. No argument here: WEP is weak.

    However, wardriving DOES NOT involve connecting to networks that don’t belong to you. You drive, you catch packets, you log a GPS location, and you move on.

    http://www.google.com/search?q=define:wardriving

    These guys BROKE INTO A NETWORK. They may have found the access point via wardriving, but anything beyond that is a knowing and willing criminal act.

    Confusing wardriving with criminal activity is such a shame.

  3. i can see why driving could find the access points with a good antenna. but once these guys decide to start trapping packets, they have to park somewhere… or drive around in circles at the cost of a lot of gas, no?
    and if they park, don’t you think it’s pretty suspicious with a directional antenna visible from the outside of the car? all it takes is one phone call…

  4. This is directed to “joe”

    Most people believe that war-driving is NOT illegal but it has never been tested in the courts. If a court case came up, and the plaintiff had enough money to hire a smart lawyer, he could probably convince the judge/jury just by implicating the word “war” in “war-driving”. You really need to use your brain a little more on this instead of flaming people you know nothing about.

    Moreover, the only reference to illegal activity I’ve read is “connecting without the owner’s consent”. But how do you differentiate between wardriving and packet capture with a passive sniffer, for example? You are not “connecting” to the network”… just trapping loose packets flying by you. The truth is, the authorities don’t really understand computers. it’s just that and all your inane post does is make excuses for their stupidity.

  5. in italy every day a hundred a card was cloned by bluetooth pos. a guy go in restaurant with a nokia n73 with a good software and sniff chip data and pin or magstripdata and pin.have in car a msr 206 and instantly duplicate a card and go on atm and take a money.is a shit people but camorra is this….

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