By
Robert McMillan, IDG News Service August 10, 2008 01:10 AM ET
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Rick Hill won't say where he launched his "wardriving" balloon on Friday, but he will tell you that it got a pretty good look at about 370 wireless networks, while scanning up and down the Las Vegas Strip.
Hidden in the back of a 22 foot (6.7 meters) moving truck, Hill and his team of about a dozen volunteers launched the balloon Friday morning, sending it 150 feet into the air for about 20 minutes to use special antennas and scanning software to scope out the Las Vegas skyline for unsecured wireless networks, an activity Hill calls "warballooning."
Hackers have practiced wardriving for years, driving around in cars with computers and specialized software that sniffs for networks.
Near the end of the operation, a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police cruiser drove by the parking lot to see what was going on.
Hill and his team waved. The police officers waved back and drove off.
No one at the Riviera could be reached who had knowledge of the warballooning incident, but Defcon director Jeff Moss confirmed
Hill's account. Hill will talk about his warballooning adventures Sunday at Defcon.
The Connected Enterprise
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