With a laptop computer, a portable Global Positioning System receiver and an antenna made of aluminum foil, hackers can create a "war-driving" machine, posing a major threat to wireless Internet users.

"War driving is simply traveling around a given area scanning for wireless access points. It can be done with any wireless device that can detect a signal," said Robin Anderson, director of multimedia technologies at Information Technology Services (ITS).

No statistics are available on war driving locally or nationally because it is difficult to detect, she said.

With the 25 buildings that support wireless Internet at Penn State's University Park campus, wireless Internet may be old news.

Network safety, however, is an increasing concern on and off campus.

ITS Wireless SecureNet, the wireless network on campus, requires users to install Virtual Private Network software to make sure that their computers are secure, according to the ITS Web site, http://its.psu.edu.

Although wireless devices scan for access points all the time, it is illegal if someone attempts to use or break into an access point that they find without permission, Anderson said.

"If your computer is accessed by a war driver, you might be vulnerable for them to access and remove all of your personal files," said Brad Carlson, assistant administrator for Zebra Environmental Corp. in New York.

Carlson said firewalls will often detect and inform the computer user that they are under attack, and generally the user's connection speed will slow down.

Students who live in apartments off campus often have the choice to use wireless Internet.

"We have four people living in our house so wireless Internet is very convenient," said Andrew Miller, a recent Penn State graduate who lives on South Barnard Street. "You can go anywhere in the house and still be connected."

Despite the convenience, students with wireless Internet may not know that others living in the building or nearby can often -- in most cases unintentionally -- pick up their connection.

Before her DSL connection was hooked up in her University Drive apartment, Sarah Smith (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) found that her computer was able to use the Internet through her neighbor's wireless connection. Although Smith said she pays her monthly Internet bill, she can often pick up others' Internet signals just by having her computer and wireless router turned on.

ITS has taken a new approach to promote computer security, Anderson said. Early last month, ITS launched the Take Control campaign and contest.

"For years, ITS and ResCom [Residential Computing] have been telling students and faculty to make their computers safer," Anderson said. "Take Control puts all of this information into one central location on the Web. We decided to run the contest to spark initial interest."

Along with various resources for computer security, the Web site posts a short quiz. When the quiz is filled out correctly, participants are allowed to register for prizes. At the end of last month, ITS gave away a digital camera and a Napster MP3 player, Anderson said.

ITS will be giving out the same set of prizes at the end of this month, she said. Registrations must be complete by Nov. 30 to be eligible for the prizes. As of this week, 11,000 users have logged onto the site, she said.

Spyware and personal firewalls generated the most interest among visitors, she added.