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Unsecured Wi-Fi

A

am-fm

Guest
Heres the story: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/07/tech/main707361.shtml

This is ridiculous - a guy is arrested for stealing an unprotected signal. I have no pity for people who dont secure their wireless netowrk. Put a WEP key on it (allthough that can only go so far - AirSnort can break it given enough packets), or use MAC filtering to keep people out.

I went wardriving around my neighborhood - 17 AP's, 14 without a WEP (and most were named 'wireless' or 'linksys'). If you cand set up a wireless network right, dont complain when people steal your bandwith.

My school has Wi-Fi, and a 64 bit WEP. And guess who has it?<P ID="signature">______________

AOL IM: wnjoldies
CBS-FM lives at http://67.83.115.5:8010
Oldies Board co-moderator</P>
 
"If you cand set up a wireless network right, dont complain when people steal your bandwith."

And if they forget to lock their cars, don't complain when someone breaks in?!

This is a no-brainer for you and for me, but no need to feel superior. Some folks are just new to this and don't know the risks.

A guy was arrested in my hometown for the same thing. It's not like they were sitting in their living room and accidentally connected to their neighbors Wi-Fi. These scumbags are cruising around looking for open connections purely for the purpose of criminal activity.<P ID="signature">______________
Jerry

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts" - late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan</P>
 
> A guy was arrested in my hometown for the same thing. It's
> not like they were sitting in their living room and
> accidentally connected to their neighbors Wi-Fi. These
> scumbags are cruising around looking for open connections
> purely for the purpose of criminal activity.

I'm one of thoes guys - when my mom takes away the cable modem, I use my neighbors WiFi. As far as the car analogy, to steal said car you have to bust the ignition and cause property damage to steal the car. Using WiFi is more like borrowing packets that have the potential to be used by an authroized user (but if theres no security measures, thats anyone).<P ID="signature">______________

AOL IM: wnjoldies or jamminoldies105
CBS-FM lives at http://67.83.115.5:8010
Oldies Board co-moderator</P>
 
"As far as the car analogy, to steal said car you have to bust the ignition and cause property damage to steal the car. Using WiFi is more like borrowing packets that have the potential to be used by an authroized user (but if theres no security measures, thats anyone)."

I see. And you think that as long as you are "borrowing packets" over Wi-Fi, and not using hard wires to do so, this is okay?

As the story you posted says, the arrest was not a matter of someone stealing Wi-Fi from his living room. He was repeatedly parking in front of someone else's home and trying to tap into his network. In another case, however, someone was tapping into his neighbor's Wi-Fi. When police arrived, they found he had rigged an antenna which was dangling out his window. Evidently, the police don't see it your way. Except for the antenna, which is not required to make it illegal, you just confessed to doing the same thing he was arrested for.
<P ID="signature">______________
Jerry

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts" - late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan</P>
 
Are you kidding? This has made me more money than anything so far. You go wardriving, triangulate the position if you can't tell who it is from the SSID, then bring a laptop when you talk to whomever is in charge. A little demonstration of how you just penetrated their network, saw what they were doing, and grabbed a few passwords right infront of their eyes is usually a sufficient wake up call.

And yeah...get permission during your meeting to sniff the signal before you show them their traffic. I doubt they'd like it--and might even consider it blackmail--if you approach them with passwords and say "pay me to fix this".<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> As the story you posted says, the arrest was not a matter of
> someone stealing Wi-Fi from his living room. He was
> repeatedly parking in front of someone else's home and
> trying to tap into his network. In another case, however,
> someone was tapping into his neighbor's Wi-Fi. When police
> arrived, they found he had rigged an antenna which was
> dangling out his window. Evidently, the police don't see it
> your way. Except for the antenna, which is not required to
> make it illegal, you just confessed to doing the same thing
> he was arrested for.

"Trying" meaning most likely using the Wireless Zero config that comes with Windows XP to connect to the network. And my WiFi card does have an antenna jack on it (dont use an antenna - would be too obvous at a certain place). I dont need an antenna to use my neighbors WiFI - USB cards are very handy for that. And yes, I'm a nice guy, so I upgraded the security measures on their network.

If you dont understand the technology, have a smart neighbor or a friend who does set it up. Otherwise, dont complain when people use the network - if theres no WEP or the SSID isnt changed, it's like asking people to use your network. <P ID="signature">______________

AOL IM: wnjoldies or jamminoldies105
CBS-FM lives at http://67.83.115.5:8010
Oldies Board co-moderator</P>
 
> Heres the story:
htt> p://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/07/tech/main707361.shtml
>
>
> This is ridiculous - a guy is arrested for stealing an
> unprotected signal. I have no pity for people who dont
> secure their wireless netowrk. Put a WEP key on it
> (allthough that can only go so far - AirSnort can break it
> given enough packets), or use MAC filtering to keep people
> out.
>
> I went wardriving around my neighborhood - 17 AP's, 14
> without a WEP (and most were named 'wireless' or 'linksys').
> If you cand set up a wireless network right, dont complain
> when people steal your bandwith.
>
> My school has Wi-Fi, and a 64 bit WEP. And guess who has it?
>

I'm not sure someone just sitting in their home, who happens to have a wireless receiver built in to their laptop or has an external adapter freely available off the shelf for those purposes, and who connects to a freely available wireless signal (cf. radio waves), has done anything wrong. Same with a scanner--the radio signals are freely available; in the case of cellular or cordless phone conversations, if you innocently happen upon them and don't seek them out, there's no issue and no crime.

I agree that this case above is different--the guy was actively scoping out a signal to use for nefarious (criminal, even) purposes. But the crime, I think, falls in the criminal use, not in the mere reception and connection of a freely available wireless internet port.

Complexity of the encryption is no defense: Windows XP is complex, but I have learned to use it. Same goes for those wishing to employ wireless internet portals--learn before you use it.
 
"Trying" meaning most likely using the Wireless Zero config that comes with Windows XP to connect to the network. And my WiFi card does have an antenna jack on it (dont use an antenna - would be too obvous at a certain place). I dont need an antenna to use my neighbors WiFI - USB cards are very handy for that. And yes, I'm a nice guy, so I upgraded the security measures on their network. "

Good. I simply responded to your earlier note that "I'm one of thoes guys - when my mom takes away the cable modem, I use my neighbors WiFi. "

FYI, the law that people are being prosecuted with deals with "Unauthorized access to a computer network." Whether it is by wires, or Wi-Fi, done from your house or your car doesn't enter into it.<P ID="signature">______________
Jerry

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts" - late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan</P>
 
> FYI, the law that people are being prosecuted with deals
> with "Unauthorized access to a computer network." Whether it
> is by wires, or Wi-Fi, done from your house or your car
> doesn't enter into it.
>

Its just wrong to do it...no matter how its spun...what we can do is notify those who may not understand the details behind wi-fi...that there are steps that need to be done to protect your modem....if they choose not to after being notified..then they have no one to blame but themselves....i suggest this to anyone who is not always literate but is willing to take steps to protect themselves....

A 3 user - full featured - and FREE version of lucid link - sort of a easy to implement radius protection for wireless customers is available with good documentation for most of the common wireless access points and routers is available....3 users is normally enough for homes..but if more connections are needed the full software version is reasonably priced for $99

http://www.lucidlink.com/Product_Information/download_3user_full.asp

If this is not an option..there are plenty of wi-fi faqs on line to share with users on how to perform more basic security steps....if one wants to help...one can google up a good one and share it...or even better just help them config the darn thing.....if they want you to help....if they dont, well too bad for them.
 
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