Quote:
Originally Posted by mikester
We track access points by their MAC addresses mostly because that is the least likely thing to change under normal circumstances. So from a 'rogue' AP stand point you can 'know' all the access points in your network by their MAC addresses. When an unknown AP starts sending a signal on 2.4 or 5 Ghz the monitoring software will see it and unless the MAC address has been spoofed it'll show up on the map of the office floor plan with an approximate location identified as a rogue.
Google street view trucks/cars/bikes had wifi sniffers on them and recorded the signals they heard and where they heard them. Two things are important there, a third is a bit unnerving. They got that you had a wireless AP of some kind because it was broadcasting a signal (BSSID or not) and they got the general location of that signal via their own GPS systems on the Google streetview recorder. The third thing they got which is unnerving is the data that was being transmitted wirelessly at the time.  It's likely not that well encrypted because consumer grade devices don't use fantastic encryption methods.
So, it's pretty easy for Google to tell where you are and it really doesn't matter how rural you think you are - if they have a 'street view' view for your street then they know where you are.
The company I work for makes appliances and software that does this sort of location tracking for business wireless networks - it's cool stuff and I like it generally. |
I used to setup "Rogue" APs at work...The last one I did was a Bluetooth Access point. Would your system have picked that one up, or only Wifi?