Is NetStumbler a wireless network cracking utility?
Emphatically not. Netstumbler is a good and courteous listener. It only records those elements of data that the access point (AP) makes public. It has no machinery for sniffing packets, reverse-engineering passwords, or even connecting to an unprotected network. Furthermore, NetStumbler respects the wishes of network owners in terms of the public visibility of their networks: If the owner of an AP disables the AP’s beacon broadcast, NetStumbler will not detect it.