Wireless for the Clueless

WiFi is short for "wireless fidelity" and is a catchall term for the 802.11 class of wireless standards. WiFi Certification is a seal of approval conferred by the nonprofit WiFi Alliance (www.weca.net). It guarantees that a piece of wireless-networking equipment will interoperate with other wireless equipment.

War Driving refers to the practice of driving around in a neighborhood with your wireless-enabled laptop, hunting for public hot spots. The term is a nod to the hacking method of choice from the 1980s movie classic Wargames, in which Matthew Broderick's character has his computer randomly dial telephone numbers until he finds an open network. (Check out http://netstumbler.com for some cool war-driving hot-spot maps.)

War Chalking is a modern take on the Depression-era practice of hobos letting each other know where they could find a good meal from a friendly household. Using symbols that indicate whether a network is public, private, or heavily secured, war chalkers mark the sidewalks in a neighborhood to let other wireless users know where the best hot spots are. (Learn more at www.warchalking.org.)

Trojan horses are malicious programs that infiltrate your computer without your knowledge and unload viruses, spyware, or other unwanted and harmful material. Trojan horses affect wired computers, too, but since many people forget to turn on the security settings on their access points and 802.11 cards, wireless users are particularly vulnerable.