Which term describes the practice of actively collecting wireless networking data from companies and individuals?

Question

Options

• AWar driving
• BSpear phishing
• CDictionary attack
• DSocial engineering

• A
  91% (30)
• B
  3% (1)
• D
  6% (2)

Explanation

War driving (A) is correct because it specifically refers to the act of driving around in a vehicle while using a device (laptop, smartphone, etc.) to detect and map wireless networks - essentially "harvesting" Wi-Fi data from businesses and individuals in range.

The distractors each describe unrelated attack types: spear phishing (B) is a targeted email-based deception attack aimed at a specific person or organization; dictionary attack (C) is a password-cracking method that systematically tries common words from a wordlist; social engineering (D) is a broad category of manipulation tactics that exploit human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities.

Memory tip: Think of "war driving" like a soldier on a reconnaissance mission - you're driving through territory to collect intelligence (wireless signals) without engaging directly. The "war" prefix is shared with related terms like war dialing (scanning phone numbers) and war chalking (marking discovered networks), which can help you remember the whole family of passive wireless reconnaissance techniques.

No community discussion yet for this question.