Analog5:000 Article 006
From Hak5
Warchalking: The Lost Art
By: Famicoman
Published: January 20th, 2007
Warchalking is an activity made to go along with the act of Wardriving. For those of you who don't know what wardriving is, its simply just going around with something like a laptop or PDA and looking for WiFi networks in your area. There are numerous articles and publications on wardriving, so I won't delve into them here.
Warchalking originated in the Summer of 2002 by Matt Jones and according to him, it was modeled after hobo signs. Hobo signs are marks that the homeless make to show that certain houses will give you a glass of milk, or another house will throw dogs for you or etc. Basically, you wouldn't understand the signs unless you were a hobo, and thus, you wouldn't understand warchalking signs unless you were a fellow warchalker.
Sadly, warchalking never caught on, mostly due to the fact that it was instantly made commercial by companies. Nowadays, you never even hear people talking about warchalking, or see a mark when you glance down at the sidewalk. Even though this may be, warchalking is still pretty unique in the fact you mark wifi hotspots in public with chalk.
There are three warchalking symbols...
The first is the open node symbol. This looks like two parenthesis back to back with the ssid displayed overhead, and the bandwidth displayed below. Example:
linksys )( 1.5
This sign above signals that there is an open node with the ssid, "linksys", and has a 1.5MB connection speed.
The second symbol is that of the closed node. The closed note is simply displayed as a circle with the ssid put above it. Example:
Cisco ()
The warchalking sign above indicates there is a closed node broadcasting the ssid, "Cisco".
The third and final warchalking signal is for a WEP encrypted node. This is represented with a circle that has a "W" encased in it. Under the circle is the bandwidth, on the top left corner is the ssid, while the contact is in the top right corner. The contact, however is usually unknown. Example:
donttakemywireless
(w)
2.0
The above network is broadcasting the ssid, "donttakemywireless", while the node is WEP encrypted, and the connection is at 2.0MB/s.
If you have a laptop, and a stick of chalk, you can go around and start warchalking. Its that easy. Get a group of friends together, and start a warchalking club. Here is the url of a printable flier that contains a cutable wallet sized chalking mini-book.
