While sitting in the parking lot, waiting for the barbershop to open, I picked up an unsecured wireless connection and browsed the news sites for 20 minutes. I doubt anyone noticed.
BTW, of the 12 or so WiFi nodes I picked up, most (8) were Verizon FIOS, locked by default, identifiable by their five character uppercase SSIDs.
Safer
Much safer to crack a WEP AP than to take your chances with an unencrypted network.
umm.... why is this illegal
maybe it should be illegal to be the owner of a wireless router that is unsecured. just like downloading music and tv, this is a victemless crime. Hey coppers time to go after real criminals like the perpetrators of the subprime lending fiasco or Bush jr.
re: umm....why is this illegal
In certain states, the obligation is on the network owner to secure the network access. I doubt you will see Internet access police wardriving, looking for open WAPs. But this does go to whether the network owner can claim that someone broke into their network. If the WAP is open, then the legal pressumption would be that the access is authorized ---- and the network owner would not be able to seek prosecution under state or federal computer crime laws. See Cybertelecom :: Computer Crime :: State Laws
SSL provides the safest level of security.
LOL encrypting access to the internet provides very limited security benefits of one's internet traffic. SSL provides the safest (and really only) level of security for internet traffic. WPA is an overall waste of airwaves.
The Usual Problem
Combine password reuse with unsecured wireless connection and you get... disaster.
http://tinyurl.com/6fkm8p
That's a link for those who still ask themselves "Why would someone want MY password?"
Some of us want to promote free Wi-Fi?!
There are literally thousands of people around that are promoting "sharing" their Wi-Fi and encouraging people to "borrow" it.
I've seen people (enthusiasts at MerakEye.com) using Meraki/Open-Mesh etc and trying to essentially free the net for passers by.I wonder if these people were included in the statistics, if so the percentage would be much higher I'd guess?
Free Wi-Fi
Greetings & Well Wishes
To Whom It May Concern:
That is a good suggestion. Free Wi-Fi. Listen, I work as a network specialist & and it is to expensive
for me to acquire wireless access by T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, and the rest of that Northeastern Crowd of Housing Market Collapse! However, I do need Internet access for research, analysis reporting, & IT Market Industry updates. For these reasons, Free Wi-Fi would suite me well. Thank you for your time & Systems Tunning.
inadvertant Free Wi-Fi
I'm wondering how many inadvertently use "free" Wi-Fi. I know it sounds strange, but when I'm getting poor Wi-Fi performance I find I'm connected to some neighbor's unsecured Wi-Fi at 1M.
My question is why is it that the manufacturers don't ship with WPA as the default security method and force the user to install a key?
I work in networking and you would be amazed the number of times I look at a "poor performing" system (you know..."I can't print anymore", " I can't get email"...) to find that they are connected to some bagel place beyond which Wi-Fi should be working, or they are connected to "Linksys".
I understand by the cream cheese still on their chin why they were connected to the open wi-fi at the bagel place or coffee-house. But if the hardware vendors would be concerned about security then I should not be seeing the automatic connections to "Linksys" or "dlink".
"Free" WiFi isn't free, it's stolen
Maeraki is simply promoting stealing from ISPs and the ISPs' paying customers. As others noted, having a bunch of passersby using YOUR IP address to download illicit materials, or engage in illegal activity, is a very bad idea. When the cops show up with a search warrant or ISP presents the owner of the access point with an additional bill for the extra traffic (tracked by MAC IDs), it won't seem "free" any longer.
Or maybe you're the same kind of person who promotes "borrowing" cable becuase it's "already on the wire anyway".
Why this IS/SHOULD be illegal
Someone could piggyb ack onto your internet account and view/upload/download illicit material.
Tied to your IP address.
Want the police coming to you asking why you were dealing with kiddie pR0n?
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