TABLE OF CONTENTS Linux is the most robust operating system for WarDriving. Unlike Windows, Linux offers the ability to place your wireless card in monitor (rfmon) mode, which allows you to perform passive scanning to detect access points that are not broadcasting the Service Set Identifier (SSID) beacon. These are commonly referred to as cloaked, or hidden access points. This capability, along with the large amount of open source and freeware wireless programs that have been developed for Linux, has helped make Linux one of the most popular operating systems used by both WarDrivers and penetration testers.
Before you can WarDrive using Linux, you need to ensure that your operating system is properly configured to utilize the tools that are available. Specifically, you need a kernel that supports monitor mode and your specific Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) card. After kernel configuration is complete, you need to install the proper WarDriving tools and tailor their configurations to your preferences.
Configuring Linux to WarDrive used to be a very difficult process that involved both kernel configuration and driver patching. That is no longer the case. As of the 2.6.16 kernel revision, it is possible to build a Linux kernel with all of the support you need compiled into it. Depending on your personal preference, this can be done by either compiling support directly into the kernel or by building the appropriate kernel modules.
There are several ways...
