War Ballooning-Kismet Wireless "Eye in the Sky"

Architecture and Background

DEF CON 16 - Rick Hill: War Ballooning-Kismet Wireless "Eye in the Sky" Using a Balloon as an aerial network surveillance platform, a.k.a. "WarBallooning" is an idea that evolved as a natural progression out of my Rocket-based experiment @ Defcon 14 entitled, "WarRocketing - Network Stumbling 50 sq. miles in less than 60 seconds." Interestingly, after my presentation in 2006, many in the wireless community discussed Balloon-based network discovery, notably CoWF & Slashdot. But, alas, like many great concepts in the scientific community, I found after much research (2008) that sadly to my (& Google's) knowledge no one has yet demonstrated WarBallooning ... Until Today!

Vulnerability Analysis

My team, (with the help of CoWF and DEFCON support staff) will demonstrate WarBallooning @Defcon 16 over the Riviera Hotel. Wardriving coverage is limited by obstructions such as trees, houses, and terrain. Our latest aerial platform, (a 6 ft. Helium Balloon) does not have these limitations. Essentially, it was built to provide a superior Line-of-Sight, enabling the Wardriver to rapidly recon.

Exploitation and Demonstrations

a fairly large urban area. Most Notable Feature: The Kismet "Eye in the Sky" actually beams live video back as the antenna targets various buildings (& networks.) The presentation will include details of all hardware hacks involved in the construction: WRT54G, Alchemy, Kismet Drone, & IP camera modifications. No prerequisite - only an interest in Network Stumbling and Wireless Technology. Rick Hill CISSP, works as an information security engineer for Tenacity Solutions, an IT consulting firm based in Reston, VA. Specializing in Wireless Security, his consulting gig involves C&A of govt.

Remediation and Defensive Strategies

networks, site surveys, and performing network security assessments. Outside the day job, Rick enjoys boating, downhill skiing, and is an avid top-fuel drag racing fan... The speed fetish and love of technical hardware lead naturally to his 2 favorite hobbies: High Power Rocketry & Netstumbling. (You may recall the "WarRocketing" talk that he presented two years ago @DEFCON 14). Since that time: Rick's acquired much more professional netstumbling time, built several cool wireless devices, and now mixes his own rocket fuel. He's attending DEFCON 16 to check out the Wireless Village and to give a talk about his newest flying & hardware hacking adventure. For copies of the slides and additional materials please see the DEF CON 16 Archive here: