SSID As the New Community Bulletin Board and Yard Sign 165
Hugh Pickens writes "Megan Garber writes that wireless routers have become the lawn signs of the digital age, particularly in large apartment buildings, where almost every unit has a unique Wi-Fi network that will be detected in turn by all the other unique Wi-Fi networks. SSIDs can be a cheeky, geeky way to broadcast messages to your immediate neighbors. Most of us keep it simple with '275_Elm_Street,' 'Apt23,' or 'my_network,' but some get more creative with names like: 'Apt112IHaveYourMail,' 'PrettyFlyForAWiFi,' or 'WeCanHearYouHavingSex' — a great way to freak out your annoying neighbors without hiding in their bushes or peeping in their windows late at night. Now the team at OpenSignalMaps, which maintains a database of geolocated Wi-Fi access points, analyzed the data they've collected about wireless routers to see whether Wi-Fi names are 'being used to fly political colors' and have found, globally, 1,140 results for 'Obama' and an additional six for 'Romney' — an indication not necessarily of Romney's popularity relative to the president's, but of the attention that four years as president can confer. 'There's something uniquely contemporary and incredibly old-school about that kind of broadcasting: It's messaging meant only for your immediate neighbors,' writes Garber. 'The politicized network names are like lawn signs for people who don't have lawns.'"
Something I have been doing for about a decade (Score:1)
Yes, you can blurt out telephone numbers to get out of my Internets or even an advertisement for a limited audience.
SSID fields are just a rather new entity in this arena.
Have fun with them while Wifi AP points still have meaning technologically.
Signs of butter. (Score:2)
SSID As the New Community Bulletin Board and Yard Sign
How about WeLuvURob?
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SSID As the New Community Bulletin Board and Yard Sign
How about WeLuvURob?
Dude, Rob moved out a while ago.
Ron Paul (Score:3)
quite likely has more than Obama and Mittens combined as using ssid was heavily promoted by supporters as a technique to raise name awareness.
Re:Ron Paul (Score:5, Funny)
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Not sure if troll or lack of sense of humor...
The joke is that Romney is so bland he's more "vanilla" than the default SSIDs.
Re:Ron Paul (Score:5, Funny)
No, it's because any AP with an SSID of Romney will not respond consistently. Then again, any AP with an SSID of Obama is heavily compromised and, even when given full power, does almost nothing.
Attitude (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Attitude (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Attitude (Score:4, Funny)
"You young WPAsnappers, back in the day we had to WEP those freeloaders and we enjoyed it!"
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I run "Zombie" and "Network 23".
But one day I may set up an open access point with a special hacked DNS that redirects everything to the same server, and why not Slashdot? At least it's amusing for a few. Or maybe I should direct everyone to Pravda [pravda.ru].
I'm open for suggestions - as long as it's reasonably decent.
Re:Attitude (Score:5, Funny)
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So that's where ... (Score:2)
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http://mail.openstudy.com/ [openstudy.com]
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How about a flash version of the WOPR from Wargames?
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"DHS Secret Listeningpost"
"NSA Listeningpost"
"CSE Listeningpost"
"FBI SWAT TEAM5"
"RCMP HQ"
"SKYnet Node36363283856"
"Tyrell Corp Intranet"
"ENCOM Intranet"
"Red Pill"
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i know a guy that uses mac filtering to send anyone who isn't authorised to lemon party. no matter what you enter you get redirected to it. not many people try to steal his wifi
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I figured out that this YouTube video would probably annoy the heck out of anyone: Click Me! [youtube.com] - and it's still work-safe.
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My previous neighbors had "Not Your Internet" or sometimes "Not Your Wifi."
Of course, living in bumfuck Indiana, most popular is "belikin." Ho hum.
In the middle of the building where I work I detected a "Grab My Dick" the other day setting up a Macintosh. Still don't understand what that is about...
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Within range of my apartment, there's currently about a dozen 2WIRE843-type network names. Not sure why so many people have that particular brand of router (maybe Charter rents them?), but it's still surprising to me that everyone opted for the default SSID considering this complex is mainly comprised of young professionals, many of whom work for EPIC [epic.com] doing software development. Certainly not a demographic I would figure would leave the default SSID in place.
My SSID has been "RECALL SCOTT WALKER" for a ye
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What is the advantage to changing one's SSID?
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Well, if I was one of those people with the 2Wire*** SSIDs, I would think to be able to find it easier in the drop down...like I said there's a dozen that are virtually identical.
That's admittedly minor, though. There's really no advantage to speak of, but then again, look at how many people actually pay for vanity license plates which also serves no advantage whatsoever (and costs money out of pocket, as opposed to changing the router's SSID). People just like putting their own personal stamp on their th
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One advantage of changing your default SSID a vanilla install is that it makes it harder to crack.
The SSID is used as salt in the encryption mechanism.
Here is an article that describes it in more detail:
http://netsecurity.about.com/od/secureyourwifinetwork/a/WPA2-Crack.htm [about.com]
Plus... having a goofy SSID is fun :) Mine is "Dialup".
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Plus... having a goofy SSID is fun :) Mine is "Dialup".
I'm thinking of changing mine to "Honeypot". That outta make somebody think twice before trying to get in.
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Latest wifi routers have single button pairing. You press a button on the router, connect to it using your wifi device, and in seconds encryption keys have been swapped.
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2Wire gateway/modems have been stock equipment for AT&T DSL for several years now.
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Surprised so many people around here have DSL. Maybe they're all ex-Charter customers that finally got sick of their shit...
Surprised so many people here apparently rent a modem, too. Like I said, this is primarily IT professionals in this area and that's definitely a demographic I would figure would own their own hardware. I haven't rented a modem from my ISP since '05...
My dad rents a modem/router from Charter (don't think his is 2-Wire, though). He can't even access the firmware outside of the SSID a
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Thought it might be a nice experiment.
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Yup. Cheap POS. Mine died shortly after warranty was up.
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Nice to see we're not the only cheeseheads with a RECALLWALKER wireless network.
____
The most common default name we see here belong to Verizon's wireless mobile hotspots. With incumbent carriers like Centurytel (sucks) and Charter (sucks even more), a lot of people, even within their coverage areas, opt for Verizon or USCC instead -- despite the higher cost for slower speeds and the (typical) 5GB monthly quota.
Driving around town, ones like GETYOUROWNWIFI are also pretty common. What is really stupid, thoug
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I saw "GetYourOwnDamnWifi" the other day. Ok guy, I get the point.
You mean someone else is using my SSID? Dammit... now I'll have to change it to "GetOffMyLawn," "GetOffMySpectrum" or, if all else fails, natalielikesmariahcarey [youtube.com].
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One of my neighbors is "FuckBitchesGetMoney"
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I saw "titties an panties" the other day and it was unsecured. Make of that what you will...
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I can see H1N1Virus near here. Same point.
Re:Attitude (Score:4, Funny)
I liked the one that was 'HideYourKids,HideYourWifi'.
Ironically, it was broadcasting hits SSID.
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I'm surprised no one has mentioned the classic, "FBI Mobile Surveillance Van."
I bet that one will freak out a lot more people than "WeCanHereYouHavingSex."
IP addresses (Score:2)
Re:IP addresses (Score:5, Insightful)
"If the bulk of them are IPv4, they are going to consume a lot of the residual IPv4 addresses out there."
dear noob;
we get it you didn't get any ip addresses before 95. please stop whining. invent something better
(and i've seen better and it doesn't look like v6)
If you were to freeze the configuration of the V4 core network right now, everything would work just fine. All our stuff talks to our other stuff. We're not running out of addresses that are already deployed and running the core network, it's only the edges of the network where more addresses are needed. So use whatever you want there and as long as it rides over the stable V4 core, you're fine. Pretty much fucked though if your new protocol doesn't do that well.
Let us know how your parallel network builds out, maybe we'll use it as an I/O device one day when you're done building it.
The thing to keep in eye on this IPV6 day is not what V6 links work, but what parts of the V4 core they break. Like last year when Hurricane Electric broke the V4 link to ISC. Talk about irony-in-a-can. Talk about broken. Talk about didn't notice. Talk about H.E. got unplugged.
Please please please don't break the net again this year. Kashpureff went to jail for disruptions an order of magnitude less than this.
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"But they should have made IPV6 backwards compatible and just used numbers instead of hex. We humans just don't think in hex"
Q: So what is your ipv6 adress
A: what format would you like:
decimal: 11579208 92373161 95423570 98500868 79078532 69984665 64056403 94575840 07913129 639936
(added some spaces to pass the lame filter)
hex: ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
octets: 255.255.255.255.255.255.255.255.255.255.255.255.255.255.255.255
You don't have to think that much about ipv6 addresses, netmask got a bit
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"Thank you. Now imagine its 3AM, you haven't had ANY coffee yet, and they are screaming at you that parts of the network aren't working. Quick, could you look at a whole pile of IPV6 numbers in a list and spot which ones don't conform? Bet most can't because our brains just don't process hexadecimal nearly as well as it does numbers. But if they gave you that same list in IPV4 octets you'd spot the 194. numbers in less than 3 seconds."
You do know you don't have to use "random" ipv6 addresses? Use usefull pa
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"Hmmmm, reminds me of the phrase, "Just recompile the kernel". Hey hairyfeet, is this starting to remind you of something?"
So writing a script to do some text transformation equals to recompiling a kernel! It's about creating small tools to make your live/work easier, you are a strange sort of contractor if you are not willing to mold stuff to your needs (unless your clients are paying by the hour).
But whatever you think or experience as a problem, get used to it and adapt since ipv4 will run out of space e
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Thank you. Now imagine its 3AM, you haven't had ANY coffee yet, and they are screaming at you that parts of the network aren't working. Quick, could you look at a whole pile of IPV6 numbers in a list and spot which ones don't conform? Bet most can't because our brains just don't process hexadecimal nearly as well as it does numbers. But if they gave you that same list in IPV4 octets you'd spot the 194. numbers in less than 3 seconds.
Hell they could have gone to 7 or 8 and it would have still been easy, because triplets are easy for us humans to whip off, just like "the phone number song" where people got dot, dot dot duh, dot dot duh, dot dot duh duh. Instead what we got is over done, needlessly complicated, and obviously done by engineers that haven't spent a day in the field. Hell how many years did they scream "You don't need that!" when it came to NAT and DHCP? I remember the first couple of years they screamed up and down "Just give everything its own public IP!", yeah, like THAT won't be a security nightmare, nope, what could go wrong?
Anybody who knows the first thing about an IPv6 address would know that the lower half of the address is don't care, so they'd just look at the link - the first 4 words (i.e. the top half) and then troubleshoot it to see if any of the nodes are working. If it turns out that some nodes on the network are working and some ain't, then the ones that ain't working are the ones that would need to be looked it. Maybe their OS ain't configured properly w/ IPv6 or the addresses, or maybe, the DHCP6 server didn't
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It was worse 16 years ago. At the time voice traffic still exceeded data traffic but everyone realized digital was going to take over, in particular ATM. The argument then was how wide the data bus for hardware systems should be . Computer people wanted 64 bits. Voice people wanted 32 bits. They couldn't agree so compromised on 48 bits.
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But they should have made IPV6 backwards compatible
Could you explain how? Because I've seen so many people suggest this, and not one has explained how it would be done.
I believe the primary reason is because it's not possible, but maybe you'll be the person to correct me.
Obama (Score:3, Insightful)
Is that the same Obama that is overseeing the PIPA/SOPA/CIPA/ACTA and $2 billion Utah Spying mega project? How quaint that people would use the very medium he and other politicians (bipartisan cabal) are trying to thwart to show their support...
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According to an article posted yesterday, 46% of Americans are crazy.
Re:Obama (Score:4, Funny)
Wow, that's lower than I expected.
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Truth in advertising (Score:3)
When I first got a laptop with wifi I loaded Kismet and took the laptop with me on some errands. My favorite: HoneyPot_comeGetSnarf.
A more useful analysis (Score:4, Interesting)
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I would like to see an analysis of the names compared to the frequency of unauthorized access attempts. What names are likely to generate indifference?
One of the WiFi SSIDs around my building is "ClickHereForIdentifyTheft". I nominate that one.
Near here.. (Score:2)
One of the neighbours has wlan called IsItColdAtTheBusStop?
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
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Out of the millions of SSIDs in the US alone, TFA writer could only confer with 400 of them for a sample
400 is what you can find in an afternoon of war driving in suburbia, or an hour walking around apartment complexes with a wardriving app on your smartphone.
But realistically, with WIFI being such a short range medium getting a significantly larger sample with a non-google scale budget is pretty problematic. You can't detect them very far away, and the more crowded the wifi space the smaller the detection distance due to unfavorable signal to noise ratio.
To the rescue: http://wigle.net/ [wigle.net] a collection of 57 m
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I'm sorry, but there aren't any prerequisites for blogging. I'm not sure where you got the expectation that things are "worth blogging about" but I've seen some pretty nonsensical drivel on blogs many times.
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Out of the millions of SSIDs in the US alone, TFA writer could only confer with 400 of them for a sample and make some half ass meaningful attempt at analysis? That's hardly anything worth blogging about.
Actually, the study was based on a database of 75 million geolocated access points, as compiled by OpenSignalMaps. You might like to read the original study report [opensignalmaps.com] to get a better idea of what's going on here.
The actual disappointing thing is that, out of 75 million access points, they only found about 1,200 hits for "obama" -- which doesn't seem to have any real statistical significance at all. Furthermore, there were only 6 hits for "romney" -- probably because a lot of these access points were polled ove
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Obama is nothing and Romney is huge in Amercia.
http://gawker.com/5914880/chinese-owner-of-amerciacom-says-romney-typo-is-helping-him-fund-his-sons-college-education [gawker.com]
The most evil SSID... "Free Internet" (Score:5, Funny)
Make it an open network but don't connect it to anything. Some people will spend hours trying to connect.
Works better when it is in range of busy public spaces.
Also works equally as well with "Free Porn".
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Re:The most evil SSID... "Free Internet" (Score:5, Interesting)
Always a classic:
Upside down Internet.
Howto.
http://www.ex-parrot.com/pete/upside-down-ternet.html [ex-parrot.com]
--
BMO
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My next project: A network with the SSID "ThisRouterIsUpsideDown", with some specific settings [ex-parrot.com] applied.
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Well, OK... (Score:3, Funny)
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I had it first, give it back!
Just another way to have some fun... (Score:3, Funny)
Boobies is the more visible one (2.4 Ghz b/g/n), and everyone who comes over with a smartphone or laptop finds it amusing, the ladies moreso than the guys. I have a second vlan on it for when friends bring their children over with ipods, kindles and such; it doesn't seem right to tell a 10 year old to just grab boobies!!
Oh thank goodness (Score:5, Funny)
'WeCanHearYouHavingSex' — a great way to freak out your annoying neighbors without hiding in their bushes or peeping in their windows late at night.
I was looking for a better way to freak out my neighbours than hiding in their bushes or peeping in their windows late at night.
Thanks slashdot!
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I was looking for a better way to freak out my neighbours than hiding in their bushes or peeping in their windows late at night.
Try FavaBeansAndANiceChianti
Its nice that people are being creative, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
How many times do you look at your wifi SSID list? Its been at least over a year for me cause whenever I need to connect I tell the machine to go direct to mine, which is not broadcast, and automatically connect.
I think the average person is about the same, they want their shit connected, and wont ever look at it again until something messes up. So "SSID As the New Community Bulletin Board and Yard Sign" is an interesting thought, and may be happening in some few areas, but its a big leap since chances are no one will ever read them.
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depends on the neighborhood. (Score:1)
I know it's fooled at least one person.
More fun SSID tricks (Score:4, Funny)
I set my phone up to broadcast "IRSAuditor28401938" and took a stroll around the wealthy area of town. Almost as fun as yelling "migras!" at a construction site.
Using SSID to send data (Score:2, Interesting)
My neighbors do this (Score:3)
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And you'd be quite wrong, Mr AC.
As always this was already done before (Score:2)
Wigle is better (Score:2)
SSID fun (Score:1)
"Disable Wireless" and "Police Department" are two of my favorites. "404 not found" is another fun SSID.
Sort of worthless (Score:2)
Unless you are *looking* for AP's, once you are setup you never will see that your neighbor is being a jerk. your machine just auto-connects to yours, and you are off and running.
ParasiteNet (Score:2)
Check it out in Cory Doctorow's Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town [craphound.com].
Sure, it's only fiction. But my home wireless, which I invite you to use whenever you're within range, is called ParasiteNet.
All Apple? (Score:2)
How come all screen shots are iOS or OSX? I don't think I've seen anything else...
Fake access point (Score:1)
Now I want to get a $15 Belkin and just use it as a yard sign. It wouldn't be connected to the internet at all.
I have weird fandom names (Score:2)
For my home WiFi I have "Venture Labs", and for my mobile 4G hotspot I have "Central Dogma".
amusing ones (Score:2)
One of my favorite ones, is a house about 8 doors down, which has a WPA secured network and a WEP one called "FBISecureInvest" or some such. Which I find funny, because while Im 100% sure its not the FBI, I'm still not going to mess with it.
My SSID (Score:3)
Did they look at the full name? (Score:2)
I don't think many people named their networks just Obama (or just Romney for that matter). It'd be interesting to know how many and where are named "Go Obama!" or "Reelect Obama" or something like that vs something like "Fuck Obama". Romney hasn't done enough nationally yet to get that many people to hate him or be enthusiastic about him.
Doing this already for many years ... (Score:2)
I've got 2 SSID's called "Touch This And Die" and as honeypot "shenanigans unda intuentis" ;)
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oh come now, it's funnier when some of us do it because we aren't pretending
Re:Security vs. Creativity (Score:5, Informative)
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Hiding your SSID isn't a security feature [howtogeek.com].
Very true.
My brother-in-law has an equally... er... effective strategy. He set his SSID to "broken" in hopes that people wouldn't see that and decide not to try to use it. He also has WPA2 with a reasonable password, though.
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in hopes that people wouldn't see that and decide not to try to use it
Er, s/wouldn't/would/