Script Kiddies

Hacking is no longer limited to experienced or malicious users who are
trying very hard to roam onto your corporate network, steal your information,
and access your network resources at no cost. Today, hacking is
just as accessible to teenagers who need only to understand how to execute
a program, access a resource, or just launch a program. These people
are commonly referred to as script kiddies.
Script kiddies are people who are more curious than malicious; they
want to see how many and what kinds of wireless resources are accessible
to them. Wireless LANs are like candy to these users. You don’t even
have to be “inside” the actual company walls in order to be able to access
802.11b resources; that is what makes hacking a WLAN so appealing.

A cartoon recently published in the security journals depicted a longhaired
computer user sitting in his car on a public street, driving
through a neighborhood. The driver stops outside one house and starts
using his wirelessly enabled laptop because he found an 802.11b open
system that was accessible while sitting inside his car. The homeowner
realizes his 802.11b network has been compromised and looks outside
his window and notices the individual. He walks out to confront the man
in the car who quickly replies, “I’m sitting here on a public street with
my own equipment, it’s not my fault that your signal is leaking out into
the public street!”
Technology Comparisons 23
Building 1
Hospital
Public House Factory
Wireless Hacker
Communication
Tower
Communication
Tower
Communication
Tower
Communication
Tower
Figure 2.2
Wireless networking
environments in all
types of facilities.
This is how many script kiddies justify using network resources.
Since these resources are accessible from distant locations, accessing
free Internet resources almost begs script kiddies to try to gain access.