Wi-Fi 'sniper rifle' debuts at DEFCON

Putting the war back into war driving

By John Leyden • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 3rd August 2004 11:43 GMT

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Conventional Wi-Fi aerials are all well and good but they don't really cut it if you want to impress fellow hackers and scare the general populace.

Forget a modified Pringles can - what you really need at somewhere like last weekend's DEFCON shindig is something that looks like an M-16 but with its firing mechanism replaced by a 14.6 dBi Yagi antenna that can get you online at up to 10 miles (16.1 km).

Yes indeed. Adapt this so that it fits into a briefcase and what you have is Day of the Jackal -style foldaway technology plus access to remote, insecure Wi-Fi networks. A must for every would-be Jason Bourne.

Perfectly pitched towards the geekier members of the Michigan Militia, we doubt the US Secret Service would be as enthusiastic though - especially if they're on presidential protection duties at the time.

As a spotter from website engadget notes the Sniper Yagi is as "likely to get you thrown in jail as logged onto a WiFi network", but if you're serious about putting the war back into war driving that's surely only a minor consideration. ®