The topic says it all - I encountered the term in a PDF given to me. So ... what does the term/phrase 'War Dialing' mean?
Tell me more
×
IT Security Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for
IT security professionals. It's 100% free, no registration required.
|
|
|||||||||
|
migrated from serverfault.com May 4 '11 at 18:58
|
Like the others have said, it is the technique of using a computer to dial down a list of phone numbers in search for other modems or fax machines. According to Wikipedia, the term was coined due to the technique's usage in the movie WarGames. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Wardialing It is also the root of the now more well-known term, wardriving, and its derivatives. Wardriving is the practice of driving around an area with a laptop configured to scan for and collect data regarding wireless networks. Warwalking is the same as wardriving, but on foot. Warchalking is the practice of marking your wardriving/warwalking finds with chalk on a nearby wall or sidewalk. For more information on "warXing", see the Wikipedia article here: |
|||
|
|
|
War-dialing is to telephone networks what network-scanning is to computer networks. A computer dials every number in a given number set to map out what's there. In olden days it was looking for unannounced modem gateways into interesting systems, and sometimes fax machines for fax-spam. The robust systems could tell the difference between fax machines, modems, voice-prompt systems, answering machines, voice mail, and actual people, much the same way that nmap can do service and OS identification of network-attached machines. |
|||
|
|
|
Other posts have answered the basics of what war dialing is, but here is the reason you do it. A device in your network with a modem attached and reachable from the POTS, is outside the protection of your firewall. War dialing is part of our security program we do every six months as sometimes a physical modem is necessary for support from an outside vendor. Obviously it should be checked by someone prior to go-live, but I live in the real world and know that doesn't always happen. There are various commercial (Phonesweep) and opens source (THC-SCan, WarVox)tools out there, it just depend on your needs. |
||||
|
|
|
It's using a modem to dial a bunch of numbers to see if you can get a session on another modem or other remote access device. It's the POTS equivalent of doing an NMAP sweep or similar. |
|||
|
|
