WiGLE

From Hacking for Dummies{{cite book|last1=Beaver|first1=Kevin|title=Hacking for Dummies|date=December 16, 2015|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|pages=372, 389|isbn=9781119154693|edition=5th|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8OkGCwAAQBAJ&dq=wigle+wifi&pg=PA389|accessdate=June 28, 2017|archive-date=August 7, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807183934/https://books.google.com/books?id=8OkGCwAAQBAJ&dq=wigle+wifi&pg=PA389#v=onepage&q=wigle%20wifi&f=false|url-status=live}} to Introduction to Neogeography,{{cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oHgDv4feV-8C&dq=wigle+wifi&pg=PA21 |title=Introduction to Neogeography |date=Dec 18, 2006 |publisher=O'Reilly Media, Inc. |isbn=9780596529956 |page=21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807183256/https://books.google.com/books?id=oHgDv4feV-8C&dq=wigle+wifi&pg=PA21#v=onepage&q=wigle%20wifi&f=false |archive-date=7 August 2024 |url-status=live |accessdate=29 June 2017}} WiGLE is a well known resource and tool. As early as 2004, its database of 228,000 wireless networks was being used to advocate better security of Wifi.{{cite book|last1=Field|first1=Dave|last2=Brandt|first2=Andrew|title=How to Do Everything with Windows XP Home Networking: Keeping Your PC Safe|date=Oct 27, 2004|publisher=McGraw Hill Professional|page=140|isbn=9780072258097|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q4uRURWppZ0C&q=wigle+wifi|accessdate=30 June 2017|archive-date=7 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807183355/https://books.google.com/books?id=q4uRURWppZ0C&q=wigle+wifi|url-status=live}} Several books mentioned the WiGLE database in 2005,{{cite book|title=Proceedings: The Twentieth National Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the Seventeenth Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence Conference|date=2005|publisher=American Association for Artificial Intelligence AAAI Press|page=20|isbn=9781577352365|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VqMdAQAAIAAJ&q=wigle|accessdate=30 June 2017|archive-date=7 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807183358/https://books.google.com/books?id=VqMdAQAAIAAJ&q=wigle|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last1=Hong|first1=Jason I-An|title=An Architecture for Privacy-sensitive Ubiquitous Computing|date=2005|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|pages=123–125|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=169PAQAAMAAJ&q=wigle|accessdate=30 June 2017|archive-date=7 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807183355/https://books.google.com/books?id=169PAQAAMAAJ&q=wigle|url-status=live}} including internationally,{{cite book|last1=Gellersen|first1=Hans W.|last2=Schmidt|first2=Albrecht|title=Pervasive Computing: Third International Conference|date=Jun 23, 2005|publisher=Springer|pages=122, 139|isbn=9783540260080|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xolQAAAAMAAJ&q=wigle|accessdate=30 June 2017|archive-date=7 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807183259/https://books.google.com/books?id=xolQAAAAMAAJ&q=wigle|url-status=live}} and the association with vehicles was also becoming widely known.{{cite book|last1=Stolarz|first1=Damien|title=Car PC Hacks: Tips & Tools for Geeking Your Ride|date=2005|publisher=O'Reilly Media, Inc.|page=293|isbn=9780596008710|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fjmbAgAAQBAJ&dq=wigle&pg=PA293|accessdate=30 June 2017|archive-date=7 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807183359/https://books.google.com/books?id=fjmbAgAAQBAJ&dq=wigle&pg=PA293#v=onepage&q=wigle&f=false|url-status=live}} Some associations of WiGLE have been positive, and some have been darker.{{cite book|last1=McClure|first1=Stuart|last2=Scambray|first2=Joel|last3=Kurtz|first3=George|title=Hacking Exposed|date=May 10, 2005|publisher=McGraw Hill Professional|pages=664, 690|isbn=9780071493666|edition=5th|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eVMPqyj3MqIC&q=wigle|accessdate=30 June 2017|archive-date=7 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807183802/https://books.google.com/books?id=eVMPqyj3MqIC&q=wigle|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last1=McPherson|first1=Tara|title=Digital youth, innovation, and the unexpected|date=2008|publisher=MIT Press|pages=85, 88, 95|isbn=9780262134958|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mhfbAAAAMAAJ&q=wigle|accessdate=30 June 2017|archive-date=7 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807183805/https://books.google.com/books?id=mhfbAAAAMAAJ&q=wigle|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last1=Wang|first1=Wally|title=Steal this Computer Book 4.0: What They Won't Tell You about the Internet|date=2006|publisher=No Starch Press|isbn=9781593271053|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMwy2y_4VFcC&dq=wigle&pg=PT122|access-date=2024-08-07|archive-date=2024-08-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807183810/https://books.google.com/books?id=nMwy2y_4VFcC&dq=wigle&pg=PT122#v=onepage&q=wigle&f=false|url-status=live}} By 2004, the site was sufficiently well known that the announcement of a new book quoted the co-founder, saying “This is the ‘Kama Sutra’ of wardriving literature. If you can't wardrive after reading this, nature has selected you not to. This is the first complete guide on the subject we’ve ever seen (it mentions us). Don't quote me on that.”

–Bob “bobzilla” Hagemann, WiGLE.net CoFounder" and a shortened quote appeared on the book's cover.{{cite web|title=Syngress Publishing Announces the Release of "WarDriving: Drive, Detect, Defend"|url=https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2004/04/27/syngress-publishing-announces-the-release-of-wardriving-drive-detect-defend/|website=helpnetsecurity.com|date=27 April 2004|publisher=Help Net Security|accessdate=30 June 2017|archive-date=10 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810052052/https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2004/04/27/syngress-publishing-announces-the-release-of-wardriving-drive-detect-defend/|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last1=Hurley|first1=Chris|title=WarDriving: Drive, Detect, Defend: A Guide to Wireless Security|date=Apr 2, 2004|publisher=Syngress|isbn=1-931836-03-5|page=Cover|edition=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wGJhDNspE3wC&dq=wigle+wifi&pg=PP2|accessdate=30 June 2017|archive-date=2024-08-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807183919/https://books.google.com/books?id=wGJhDNspE3wC&dq=wigle+wifi&pg=PP2#v=onepage&q=wigle%20wifi&f=false|url-status=live}}

In early days, circa 2003 the lack of mapping was criticized, and was said to force WiFi seekers to use more primitive methods. "The most primitive method disseminated is warchalking, where mappers inscribe a symbolic markup on the physical premises to indicate the presence of a wireless network in the area." Regarding WiGLE in particular, it was said, "The Netstumbler map site and the Wireless Geographic Logging Engine store more detailed wardrive trace data, yet do not offer any visualization format that is particularly useful or informative."{{cite journal|last1=Lentz|first1=Chris|last2=Kotz|first2=David|title=802.11b Wireless Network Visualization and Radiowave Propagation Modeling|journal=Dartmouth College Computer Science Department Senior Thesis|date=June 1, 2003|volume=Technical Report TR2003-451|pages=2, 3|url=http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/reports/TR2003-451.pdf|accessdate=30 June 2017}} By 2004 others felt differently, however, and a WiFi news site said about "the fine folks at wigle.net who have 900,000 access points in their wardriving database," "While the maps aren't as pretty, they're quite good, and the URLs correspond to specific locations where WiFiMaps hides the URL-to-location mapping."{{cite web|last1=Glenn|first1=Fleishman|title=WiFiMaps Encompasses the World of Wardriving, April 27, 2004|url=http://wifinetnews.com/archives/2004/04/wifimaps_encompasses_the_world_of_wardriving.html|website=WNN WiFi Net News|publisher=Glenn Fleishman|accessdate=30 June 2017|archive-date=8 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408141543/https://wifinetnews.com/archives/2004/04/wifimaps_encompasses_the_world_of_wardriving.html|url-status=live}} In late 2004, other authors stated, "that war driving is now ubiquitous: a good illustration of this is provided by the WiGLE.net online database of WAPS." They also said, "The motherload of WAP maps is available on the Wireless Geographic Logging Engine Web site (wigle.net). Circa late September 2004, WiGLE’s database and mapping technology included over 1.6 million WAPS. If you can’t find the WAP of interest there, you can probably live without it."{{cite journal|last1=Berghel|first1=Hal|last2=Uecker|first2=Jacob|title=Wireless Infidelity II: Airjacking|journal=Communications of the ACM|date=December 2004|volume=47|issue=12|pages=15, 19|url=http://uyklply.berghel.com/col-edit/digital_village/dec-04/dv_12-04.pdf|accessdate=30 June 2017|doi=10.1145/1035134.1035149|s2cid=14235023|archive-date=8 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408141259/http://uyklply.berghel.com/col-edit/digital_village/dec-04/dv_12-04.pdf|url-status=live}} In 2005, using WiFi databases for geolocation was being discussed, and WiGLE, with approximately 2.4 million located access points in the database, was often mentioned.{{cite journal|last1=Roto|first1=Virpi|last2=Laakso|first2=Katri|title=Mobile Guides for Locating Network Hotspots|journal=Workshop on HCI in Mobile Guides|date=2005|pages=2, 5|url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3613/780daf9af7ca4649a345388b96d42fdca739.pdf}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite journal|last1=Letchner|first1=Julia|last2=Fox|first2=Dieter|last3=LaMarca|first3=Anthony|title=Large-Scale Localization from Wireless Signal Strength|journal=AAAI|date=2005|volume=05|page=6|url=https://ocs.aaai.org/Papers/AAAI/2005/AAAI05-003.pdf|accessdate=30 June 2017|archive-date=8 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073441/https://ocs.aaai.org/Papers/AAAI/2005/AAAI05-003.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite journal|last1=King|first1=Thomas|last2=Kopf|first2=Stephan|last3=Effelsberg|first3=Wolfgang|title=A Location System based on Sensor Fusion: Research Areas and Software Architecture|journal=Proc. of the 2. GI/ITG KuVS Fachgespräch Ortsbezogene Anwendungen und Dienste|date=June 2005|pages=3, 5|url=https://ub-madoc.bib.uni-mannheim.de/38963/1/King_2005a.pdf|accessdate=30 June 2017|archive-date=8 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073409/https://ub-madoc.bib.uni-mannheim.de/38963/1/King_2005a.pdf|url-status=live}} In 2017, data from WiGLE was used as a source for WiFi router locations and encryption frequencies.{{Cite journal |last1=Kavak |first1=Hamdi |last2=Padilla |first2=Jose J. |last3=Lynch |first3=Christopher J. |last4=Diallo |first4=Saikou Y. |date=2018-04-15 |title=Big data, agents, and machine learning: towards a data-driven agent-based modeling approach |url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3213032.3213044 |journal=Proceedings of the Annual Simulation Symposium |series=ANSS '18 |location=San Diego, CA, USA |publisher=Society for Computer Simulation International |pages=1–12 |isbn=978-1-5108-6014-8 |access-date=2024-08-07 |archive-date=2024-08-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807183920/https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3213032.3213044 |url-status=live }} In 2018, data from the WiGLE database was compared against the data collected by the authors.{{Cite book |last1=Bandong |first1=Arvin |last2=Felizardo |first2=Christine |last3=Festin |first3=Cedric Angelo M. |last4=Tan |first4=Wilson M. |chapter=Opportunistic Wardriving Through Neighborhood Public Utility Vehicles as an Alternative to Crowdsourcing and Dedicated Wardriving for Wireless Network Data Collection |date=2018-11-03 |title=2018 IEEE International Conference on Internet of Things and Intelligence System (IOTAIS) |chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8600890 |publisher=IEEE |pages=66–72 |doi=10.1109/IOTAIS.2018.8600890 |isbn=978-1-5386-7358-4 |access-date=2024-08-07 |archive-date=2024-08-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807184317/https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8600890 |url-status=live }} The WiGLE Android app was compared against other wardriving tools in a conference in 2021.{{Cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Aju Mathew |last2=Kumaran |first2=Gowtham Akshaya |last3=Ramaguru |first3=R |last4=Harish |first4=R |last5=Praveen |first5=K |chapter=Evaluation of Wireless Access Point Security and Best Practices for Mitigation |date=2021-12-10 |title=2021 5th International Conference on Electrical, Electronics, Communication, Computer Technologies and Optimization Techniques (ICEECCOT) |chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9707914 |publisher=IEEE |pages=422–427 |doi=10.1109/ICEECCOT52851.2021.9707914 |isbn=978-1-6654-3272-6 |access-date=2024-08-07 |archive-date=2024-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510091712/https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9707914/ |url-status=live }} In 2024, data from the WiGLE database was compared against Apple's location services and Erik Rye and Dave Levin found that the vast majority of networks in their sample from the WiGLE database were within 1km of the Apple database.{{Cite journal |title=CSDL {{!}} IEEE Computer Society |url=https://www.computer.org/csdl/proceedings-article/sp/2024/313000a241/1WPcZ0zOxna |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=www.computer.org |doi=10.1109/sp54263.2024.00239 |arxiv=2405.14975 |archive-date=2024-08-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807184821/https://www.computer.org/csdl/proceedings-article/sp/2024/313000a241/1WPcZ0zOxna |url-status=live |last1=Rye |first1=Erik |last2=Levin |first2=Dave |date=2024 }}

Although the apps used to collect information are open sourced,{{Cite web|url=https://wigle.net/tools|title=Tools and Downloads|access-date=2017-06-28|archive-date=2017-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010135405/https://wigle.net/tools|url-status=live}} the database itself is accessed and distributed under a freeware proprietary license.{{Cite web|url=https://wigle.net/eula.html|title=WiGLE - EULA|access-date=2013-06-18|archive-date=2024-08-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807184521/https://wigle.net/eula.html|url-status=live}} Commercial use of parts of the data may be bought.{{Cite web|url=https://wigle.net/gps/gps/main/faq/|title=WiGLE: Wireless Network Mapping|access-date=2010-03-01|archive-date=2010-06-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611210926/http://wigle.net/gps/gps/main/faq/|url-status=live}}

The Android app to collect Wi-Fi hotspots and their geographic correspondent information is available under a 3-clause BSD license.{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/wiglenet/wigle-wifi-wardriving/blob/master/LICENSE|title=Wigle-wifi-wardriving|website=GitHub|date=19 November 2021|access-date=18 June 2013|archive-date=7 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807184446/https://github.com/wiglenet/wigle-wifi-wardriving/blob/main/LICENSE|url-status=live}}

• Cell ID
• Geolocation software
• KisMAC
• Kismet
• Location as a service
• Mozilla Location Service
• Navizon
• NetStumbler
• Skyhook Wireless
• Wardriving
• Wi-Fi positioning system

{{reflist|30em}}

• [http://wigle.net WiGLE Main Page]
• [http://wigle.net/phpbb/ WiGLE Forums]
• {{F-Droid|net.wigle.wigleandroid|WiGLE Wifi Wardriving}}
• {{Google Play|net.wigle.wigleandroid|Wigle Wifi Wardriving}}

Category:Wireless networking