Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Seeking assistance for wardrive to find stolen laptop

Options
  • 04-03-2011 6:03pm
    #1
    Cavehill Red
    Registered Users Posts: 6,109 ✭✭✭


    Hi, my friend had his laptop stolen with his thesis and loads of other work on it when his house was burgled. He didn't have a back up. Full sad and sorry story here.

    Basically, there are strong suspicions that local drug dealers in the neighbourhood may have been responsible. It's been suggested that a wardrive in the area might result in tracking the Mac address of the laptop, which would provide sufficient evidence for the Gardai to search the premises.

    So I suppose I'm asking if there's anyone in the Dublin area who could lend or sell us a cantenna and show us how it's used so that we can camp outside the suspected thieves' house for a bit and see if we can get proof that the laptop is in there.


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    dlofnep
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,759 ✭✭✭✭dlofnep


    In order to do anything - you'll need to be connected to the suspect's router before you'll be able to communicate with the laptop, as MAC addresses are only used on the local network. That essentially involves cracking any form of wireless encryption they may have on it (unless of course the network is open).

    Once you are connected - you could start sniffing the network immediately for any ARP requests/responses for the MAC address in question (use a filter with wireshark). I'd probably recommended that you perform a network sweep with nmap first to ensure an ARP request is sent out to all systems on the network, as this will try to ping all IP addresses on the network which will subsequently need to be resolved to their hardware addresses (MAC).

    If you need to know any of the specifics in detail, let me know - but to be honest, you'll be probably crossing some legal issues if you connect to their network.


  • Options
    #3
    dlofnep
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,759 ✭✭✭✭dlofnep


    This video might cheer you up btw:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4oB28ksiIo


    :)

    Similar scenario to yours.


  • Options
    #4
    knuth
    Registered Users Posts: 469 ✭✭knuth


    You don't need to be connected to ANY network to find the laptops mac.

    Op: scope the area with kismet and grep the results for your friends mac address. Check time frequently and jot down every 2 minutes, you can then cross reference time / location if mac has been found.


  • Options
    #5
    pieface_ie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 301 ✭✭pieface_ie


    You do not need to connect to the network.

    If you can use linux and have a supported wireless adapter you can analyse wireless networks. The name of the "software" is airodump-ng if i recall correctly. Il double check later for you.

    It will give you a list of all wireless networks,there BSSID and there MAC addresses and will also give you a list of devices connected to it and also there MAC address.


  • Options
    #6
    dlofnep
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,759 ✭✭✭✭dlofnep


    lordlame wrote: »
    You don't need to be connected to ANY network to find the laptops mac.

    Op: scope the area with kismet and grep the results for your friends mac address. Check time frequently and jot down every 2 minutes, you can then cross reference time / location if mac has been found.

    Sorry, you're correct. I forgot about Kismet. Any passive-network sniffer will do the job.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #7
    syklops
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,966 ✭✭✭✭syklops


    Cavehill Red wrote: »
    Hi, my friend had his laptop stolen with his thesis and loads of other work on it when his house was burgled. He didn't have a back up. Full sad and sorry story here.

    Basically, there are strong suspicions that local drug dealers in the neighbourhood may have been responsible. It's been suggested that a wardrive in the area might result in tracking the Mac address of the laptop, which would provide sufficient evidence for the Gardai to search the premises.

    So I suppose I'm asking if there's anyone in the Dublin area who could lend or sell us a cantenna and show us how it's used so that we can camp outside the suspected thieves' house for a bit and see if we can get proof that the laptop is in there.

    I wish I still lived in Dublin. This is right up my alley. In a former job I came up with a way of charting WAPs locations and mapping them to a googlemap. I also used to locate APs using a cantenna and a prismatic compass(harder than it sounds)

    Just drive around the area with kismet running for a couple of hours and as another poster said, just grep your friends MAC address.

    Also educate him on the importance of backups.


  • Options
    #8
    danebo
    Registered Users Posts: 2 ✭danebo


    Cavehill Red wrote: »
    Hi, my friend had his laptop stolen with his thesis and loads of other work on it when his house was burgled. He didn't have a back up. Full sad and sorry story here.

    Cavehill Red did you ever find that laptop or go on that wardrive? I'm in a similar situation and considering wardriving. How did you get on?

    Or anyone else for that matter.


  • Options
    #9
    obviousTroll
    Registered Users Posts: 60 ✭✭obviousTroll


    danebo wrote: »
    Cavehill Red did you ever find that laptop or go on that wardrive? I'm in a similar situation and considering wardriving. How did you get on?

    Or anyone else for that matter.

    What's your story danebo?


Advertisement