I'd agree with IO540. The information and software needed to go breaking into wireless networking can be trivially found online, and by talking about the vulnerability of wireless networks PPRuNe isn't going to suddenly make things worse. However, it might hopefully make some people reading this forum consider what settings they are using on their wireless kit. It's easy enough for the majority with no interest in computers and no desire to learn more than they have to, and for those with an interest i'd agree that playing with the tools themselves is a good way to educate yourself about your network.
These days any PC user needs to understand the security they have when they connect to the outside world. For the internet, a black box solution from someone you can reasonably trust is fine, so installing zone alarm and forgetting about it is fine. At the moment wireless needs a little more care, mainly because wireless access points are quite so opaque from the novice end-user perspective. Default settings on a router are hopeless. I don't know why they aren't shipped with pre-shared-key encryption turned on and a floppy containing the (unique, not default) key that autoconfigures each client, but they aren't - and that means that the user needs to do something about it. It's not hard, and if most people who don't know a thing about computers and don't want to (the majority, these days) can run a firewall then they can fix up wireless too.
Actually I do know why they aren't shipped with pre-shared key turned on; (a) it would be extra effort for the box-shifters and (b) it would generate support calls from those too dumb or lazy to insert the floppy disk. The manufacturers would rather avoid that than sell something secure out of the box. Microsoft appear to have had similar views a few years ago, so we can hope.
Finally, a quick example of why I think wireless security is important. My neighbour got wireless recently. How do I know? I got home, turned on my thinkpad and its pre-installed software told me it had detected a new wireless network, did I want to connect? I went round to talk to him about it. He suggested I connect; his C drive was shared on the wireless network, 5 seconds later and I had his Microsoft Money datafile in Windows explorer - so all his bank account details are available to anybody parked outside his house. Now, if we were having a feud about fences, garden sheds or any other thing that neighbours row about then I could completely
him over in 15 seconds - a choice download copied over, suitably proxied, of course, and a call to the police. "I was cleaning my windows and I saw him...". All thanks to an out of the box Netgear WAP. Personally I find that pretty frightening!
BEagle - wardriving depends on your point of view. You might use the term to refer to finding an open wireless access point to use check your email. You might also wish to hack it. The former probably vastly outweighs the latter. It can even be a hobby akin to trainspotting, finding and mapping the local WAPs. Oh, and unlawful use is dealt with by "use of a computer for a purpose for which you do not have permission", not "going equipped to commit a crime"
And spare the "breaking fingers" stuff for jetblast, please.