Chapter 8: Organizing WarDrives

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Introduction

I wish that I could take credit for coming up with the idea of organized WarDriving, but that would be oversimplifying the true history of organized WarDriving and would be insincere. The truth is that the idea of organized WarDriving evolved over the course of a year or so from a vague idea that was discussed amongst WarDrivers online into a few specific events.

This chapter provides some background on those early conversations and how they evolved into the DefCon 10 WarDriving Contest. The lessons learned from the DefCon 10 WarDriving contest and what steps were taken to avoid repeating the errors of the past are presented. We look at the origin of the contest, including the behind-the-scenes planning and how the contest came into existence. More importantly, this chapter covers the organization of the contest itself and what rules were used and why. The scoring script that was used is also presented. These include scoring problems as well as data formatting problems. The source code for converting data from Kismet logs to wi-scan format is also provided along with a discussion of the problems encountered in converting the data.

We take a look at how the DefCon 10 WarDriving Contest led to the idea of a small WarDrive to completely cover one city and how that small WarDrive evolved over the past two years into the WorldWide WarDrive, a global event involving hundreds of participants. This chapter covers the mistakes that were made along the way and how they were addressed. I provide an analysis of the results of the WorldWide WarDrives (WWWDs), and the direction that organized WarDriving, particularly the WWWD, will take in the immediate future.

Detailed information on each of the five largest organized WarDrives (DefCon 10 WarDriving Contest, DefCon 11 WarDriving Contest, and all three WorldWide WarDrives) is presented in the chronological order that they took place, along with some tips and tricks on organizing WarDrives in your area. The techniques presented here will help you organize a successful WarDrive whether it is for a large event like the WorldWide WarDrive, or a small WarDrive with a few friends in your area.

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