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xkcd 440

I was wondering how one would go about the above? That is, how would you

  1. Create a wireless network from your computer? I suppose you'd be emulating a wireless router or something, (and obviously in this example you'd want to name it "linksys" so the target's laptop auto-connects)
  2. Infiltrate a computer on that network and do your evil work?

I'm not exactly looking for a step-by-step or anything, but I really haven't a clue how this would work and (i'm warning you, :P) am looking for a pretty detailed answer here.

(I hope this is on topic; just point me where to go if not. :)

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closed as not a real question by Paul, Journeyman Geek, Josip Medved, Andrew Lambert, slhck Apr 26 '12 at 5:50


Creating a wireless network from a computer is typically creating an ad-hoc network, not an infrastructure network. So they wouldn't emulate routers. Some wireless cards may be able to create an infrastructure type network, but I'm unaware of any. –  Bob Apr 26 '12 at 3:01
@Bob I thought about that, but as far as I know most computers won't autoconnect to an adhoc. For example, my computer does autoconnect to unsecured "linksys" networks, but when I pass adhoc "linksys" networks it doesn't. So while an ad-hoc could work in theory, it wouldn't really work in practice... right? –  Thomas Shields Apr 26 '12 at 3:04
(for anyone who's wondering, no, i'm not trying to actually hack a tailgator or anything, but 1. i want to learn more about the subject and 2. this would make an awesome prank) –  Thomas Shields Apr 26 '12 at 3:11
I think you'd get better results on IT Security. –  ekaj Apr 26 '12 at 3:21
This is pretty off-topic for SU. If your laptop wifi supported AP mode, then I would set it to an SSID that was usually unauthenticated, and that the victim might commonly connect to - like a MacDonalds or Starbucks SSID. As you are in control of it, you could cycle through lots of them until you got an incoming connection. –  Paul Apr 26 '12 at 3:25
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1 Answer

up vote 5 down vote accepted
"These aren't the answers you're looking for..." - Obi-Wan

First, you should probably read this. I'll answer anyway because it's an interesting topic, but usually the StackExchange sites are about solving issues that you actually face, not "I wan't to learn about cool_thing".

Anyhow, there really isn't a good answer to this question in a practical sense, and it's of dubious legality, but in general you'd want to:

  1. Use your laptop as a wireless access point. There really isn't any trickery here, people do this all the time (usually as an ad-hoc style network e.g. "Free Public Wi-Fi").
  2. Hope that the person who's tailgating you has a wireless device that's not currently asleep, off, or dead; and that is configured to autoconnect to anything it sees, or you could use something commonly know as "KARMA" to spoof being his home network.
  3. Use an exploit to do evil things. Exploits come and go and generally aren't legal but if you're interested for purely academic reasons then there are tons of places to hear about these types of things. I like to listen to "Security Now!". If you want to actually hack stuff, that's not a hole I'm willing to dig into but Google exists. (Keyword: Metasploit)
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thanks. :) I'm well aware of the SE "solve issue" vs. "learn about X", but yeah, my question was certainly leaning towards learning vs. solving. the link is nice too. :) –  Thomas Shields Apr 26 '12 at 3:35
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