Best Wireless SSIDs You Have Seen? 684
Ant writes "Best SSIDs you have seen is the name of the new Broadband Reports' wireless security forum.
Funny ones listed that made me chuckle: WardriversOpenAP,
GET LOST,
HackedAP,
SecureAP (no WEP/WPA), TOP_SECRET, HPD-FieldOffice,
MiddleEarth, HoneyPot, mine, and people's full/last name." I think naming your network 'Default' or 'Linksys' should be a crime ;)
SSID which was the 64bit wep key in hex (Score:1, Insightful)
-1 Lame (Score:5, Insightful)
Too bad I can't mod the entire story as -1 LAME.
Invitation (Score:3, Insightful)
What's the matter with Default? (Score:2, Insightful)
Mine's called "Default" (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh, wait... it's not mine, it's my neighbor's. That's why I don't need to pay for broadband service
Re:Address... (Score:3, Insightful)
It lets people know where to contact the admin. Could be useful if nearby AP operators wanted to link, or perhaps discuss the channel configuration in order to avoid interference.
The address isn't exactly top secret information, surely anyone near the area could easilly figure out what house the wireless signal is strongest near?
Re:My neighborhood (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Best SSID (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Best SSID (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:The best SSID ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Er... (Score:4, Insightful)
Step 1. Get laptop or $20 Wifi strength meter.
Step 2. Walk around.
Step 3. Use publicly available sources to find out who lives there
And if you really think someone gives a shit if you like LOTR, I think you need a bigger tinfoil hat buddy.
Re:Best SSID (Score:3, Insightful)
It gives away a manufacturer; not the manufacturer. My 'Linksys' might be running on an Airport.
Re:My neighborhood (Score:5, Insightful)
In the process committing a serious crime.
You don't have the right to decide how other people should manage their network. The fault here lies with the manufacturers for providing systems that require too much effort to secure.
Terrorising people into behaving in the way you think they should is despicable. Who made you King?
Re:My neighborhood (Score:3, Insightful)
Which is exactly the sort of arrogant geek centric approach that has led to bad security.
The access points could have been designed to be secure without anyone ever needing to RTFM. Print the serial number of the device on the case of the box, use it as the default password.
Same thing goes for these idiotic WEP keys which I keep having to type into one machine after another. Build the system so that I don't keep having to enter long strings of digits into each new machine I buy.
Re:My neighborhood (Score:5, Insightful)
The real question is why you feel the need to "help your neighbors"? What's the point?
It's not your job and they didn't ask you to. An open AP is not hurting anyone.
If you have an innate need to contribute to society, pick up trash by the side of the road... visit old folks in a retirement home... give blood... contribute to a SourceForge project.
But don't hack your neighbors to "teach them a lesson".
Re:Strange ones I've seen (Score:3, Insightful)
Feel free to download all the bomb making material and kiddie porn you want while simultaneously running bittorrent, LimeWire, and Kazaa at the same time. You can always say "It was someone on my open access point, not me!", but you better have a well-encrypted drive.
Re:My neighborhood (Score:4, Insightful)
Linksys did. Dude, read the post you're replying to, ok?
Re:Strange ones I've seen (Score:4, Insightful)
- Andreas
Re:My neighborhood (Score:1, Insightful)
Hope your sperm count is low.
Re:Best SSID (Score:3, Insightful)
Using the address, or a phone number, or even both as I do, makes it very easy to get in contact with the owner should the need arise. If an AP is malfunctioning or misconfigured and is causing interference, the owner should be contacted and informed.
The other reason I have my phone number in mine is because if someone else wants to use it, they can. I don't want Johnny Scriptkiddy driving through and screwing with it. But if a neighbor has a guest staying who wants to use my wireless, that is fine. Long and short of it, if someone has the decency to call and ask permission, I will give them my WPA key. My AP is on a separate subnet and requires VPN to access my wired network, so I don't mind giving local people access. Without VPN, all they can do is browse the web and check e-mail.
No matter how you look at it, using wireless has some risks to it. The best way the average home user can protect themselves is to enable WEP (or WPA if available) and lock down the MAC addresses. Using an accurate and descriptive SSID is not a risk, and can actually be very helpfull. Turning off SSID broadcast does absolutely no good and can cause additional problems.
Advanced users and corporate users obviously have more options available to them, but out-of-the-box configuration options are adequate for home users as long as they configure them.
Jeremy
Re:Best SSID (Score:2, Insightful)
The mac address give away the manufacturer as well, and that can't be changed.