How to Use Your Cat to Hack Your Neighbor’s Wi-Fi • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Use Your Cat to Hack Your Neighbor’s Wi-Fi

#51

Post by foobarian » Fri, Aug 08, 2014, 5:14 PM UTC

audeyisaacs wrote: post #40

MichailP wrote: post #2

What about level of non ionizing radiation the cat is exposed to? Cats head is always in near field of antenna, seems a bit harsh to the cat.

There's really no reason to be concerned about that. I'd be significantly more worried(ie: actually worried) about a mishap with that gumstick cell, which looks like it could be(edit: probably is) a lipo.

A battery on fire could not only hurt the cat, but could also set on fire wherever the cat decided to run to in a wild panic.

Re: How to Use Your Cat to Hack Your Neighbor’s Wi-Fi

#52

Post by icebraining » Fri, Aug 08, 2014, 5:39 PM UTC

ww520 wrote: post #43

OT: Actually a useful device for cats would be a collar that tracks GPS location and answers its location when pinged. Then they can be easier found and won't get lost.

Someone thought of that: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/retrievor-self-charging-g...

I wouldn't bet on them actually delivering, but who knows.

Re: How to Use Your Cat to Hack Your Neighbor’s Wi-Fi

#53

Post by hayksaakian » Fri, Aug 08, 2014, 5:39 PM UTC

Am I the only one seeing this?

http://www.imgur.com/ukYNQFL.png

Makes the article totally unreadable on chro.a beta for android (nexus 5)

Re: How to Use Your Cat to Hack Your Neighbor’s Wi-Fi

#54

Post by parktheredcar » Fri, Aug 08, 2014, 6:02 PM UTC

callmeed wrote: post #46

guelo wrote: post #41

I leave my wifi open because I like being a nice neighbor. A little QoS and a firewall for my home network, and you're free to connect.

I've always wondered if leaving your WiFi open gives you plausible deniability WRT to torrenting copyrighted material (should anyone ever come knocking).

I think the EFF has been pushing this idea recently.

Re: How to Use Your Cat to Hack Your Neighbor’s Wi-Fi

#55

Post by anon4 » Fri, Aug 08, 2014, 6:03 PM UTC

guelo wrote: post #41

I leave my wifi open because I like being a nice neighbor. A little QoS and a firewall for my home network, and you're free to connect.

I don't. I put the password in the SSID, as a form of a captcha. Any marginally intelligent human would break it, but an automated system sniffing out unprotected wifi won't.

Re: How to Use Your Cat to Hack Your Neighbor’s Wi-Fi

#56

Post by ChuckMcM » Fri, Aug 08, 2014, 6:12 PM UTC

popctrl wrote: post #13

1. Make the collar hijack any wifi devices it can and use their CPUs to mine dogecoin 2. Use earnings to create more collars, attaching them to stray dogs 3. Revel in your stray doge empire

"Honey! This stray dog has a USB drive attached to its collar, maybe its information about the owner, plug it into your PC and see."

The evilness just makes me shudder. Next up a USB stick that has a rat treat in it, when you push the stick into a USB port that pops the rat treat out of the top. You train a bunch of rats and then leave the USB sticks around your target's facility.

There are some fun fiction ideas in there, that is for sure.

Re: How to Use Your Cat to Hack Your Neighbor’s Wi-Fi

#57

Post by elif » Fri, Aug 08, 2014, 6:17 PM UTC

cessor wrote: post #45

I am interested in building a device like this (for other purposes and not for cats), but I have no idea how to put the hardware together or where to start. I have been thingking about bycicle security a lot lately and a tiny GPS + X (gsm, wifi, etc.) might me useful. Could someone point me in the right direction? Where do I start?

I love this thing. full computer, i.e. install ubuntu and go, yet it's way smaller and more powerful than a raspberry pi.

https://store.gumstix.com/index.php/products/620/

the problem you will run into is wifi eats a lot of power and makes a lot of heat

Re: How to Use Your Cat to Hack Your Neighbor’s Wi-Fi

#58

Post by elif » Fri, Aug 08, 2014, 6:21 PM UTC

cookiemonster11 wrote: post #3

MichailP wrote: post #2

What about level of non ionizing radiation the cat is exposed to? Cats head is always in near field of antenna, seems a bit harsh to the cat.

Do you use a mobile phone?

the difference is in the wavelength. cell signals are designed to cut through water, so that you can use them when it rains. wifi signals are designed purposely to be absorbed by water (thus limiting their range to reduce interference). your brain is full of water

Re: How to Use Your Cat to Hack Your Neighbor’s Wi-Fi

#59

Post by hyborg787 » Fri, Aug 08, 2014, 6:30 PM UTC

Train a small animal such as a ferret to hit the WPS button on any popular access point and let it loose in their home?

Re: How to Use Your Cat to Hack Your Neighbor’s Wi-Fi

#60

Post by georgemcbay » Fri, Aug 08, 2014, 6:34 PM UTC

ww520 wrote: post #43

OT: Actually a useful device for cats would be a collar that tracks GPS location and answers its location when pinged. Then they can be easier found and won't get lost.

Outdoor cats generally don't really get lost, they get flattened by cars or eaten by coyotes depending upon where you live, neither of which a GPS is going to help with. On rare occasions they get snatched up by animal control.

For anyone with a cat, I highly recommend getting it microchipped (in case they get out and happen to fall into that last category) and making it indoor-only. The average lifespan of an outdoor cat is ~3-6 years.