Some 12% of Consumers 'Borrow' Unsecured Wi-Fi

alphadogg writes "Despite the fact that it's often considered an illegal act, a sizeable percentage of the UK/US internet-using population 'borrows' unsecured Wi-Fi access. This is according to a study conducted by the group Accenture. 'The Accenture study found that computer users are still engaging in some unsafe computing practices. Nearly half of all respondents said that they used the same password for all of their online accounts, and only a quarter of them have ever encrypted files on their computers.'" My guess is the actual figure is higher than that.

news..

[thermian]

This just in:
People on the internet 'steal' stuff they should pay for.

Can someone help

[LiquidCoooled]

I am trying to connect to "Free Public Internet" but its not letting me.
Do I need a password?

Gotta Remember, They're Users

[Toad-san]

Had a lady bring her laptop into our computer repair shop. "I can't get the Internet any more."

After extensive questioning (using very small words), I determined:

Her expensive laptop worked fine.

Her TCP/IP settings, web browser, etc. all worked just fine.

The wireless components and setup worked just fine.

What was NOT working fine was her neighbor's wireless access point. Apparently that fine fellow had either turned it off, lost his own internet connection, encrypted his WAP, or whatever.

She never knew she was using his connection, connecting to his WAP. She thought that, since the stick-on on her laptop said it had wireless and could reach the internet .. that it was a godz-given fact that, anywhere she went, she'd have internet access.

"But it works on campus."

Sigh .. more explanations.

Half an hour of my life, gone. And I don't even want to think about the brain damage.

In other news...

[wik]

Zonk doesn't read past the headline.

Re:Gotta Remember, They're Users

[scubamage]

Sadly only a handful ever progress past that point.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:WTF?

[BrotherBeal]

Someone's really trying hard to make an article out of nothing.

Just wait a while and the editors will make two.

Re:I do, because Sympatico SUCKS.

[Chris Mattern]

Um, if the cable service is so much better, why don't you get it yourself? I can't believe the cable company told you, "No, that's one floor further up, we don't run coax up there."

Re:news..

[AlterRNow]

Note to self:
Don't forget wallet at this persons house or let my girlfriend visit it alone.

:)

Re:news..

[Hoi Polloi]

I lost my original reply when my neighbor turned off his wi-fi router. Some people are so rude.

Re:news..

[Naughty Bob]

To me stealing Wi-Fi is a bit like stealing a pizza out of somebody's grocery bag. Silly.

Stealing Wi-Fi is not just silly, it's pointless.

I don't know what it's like where you live, but wherever I need to use wireless, I just use that free and ubiquitous 'Belkin 54g' network.

Re:Warned my neighbour

[superdana]

I had to do something similar when some moron attached his WAP to the apartment Ethernet network backwards. He'd connected the wall jack to one the LAN ports on his WAP, and was serving DHCP to the entire complex--thereby shutting down the entire network. Naturally he hadn't changed his admin password, so I logged in to the web interface and changed the name of his network to "please call xxx-xxxx." A few minutes later the phone rings, and a few minutes after *that*, we had a working network again. (And he had a new admin password.)

Re:Warned my neighbour

[Anonymous Coward]

I warned someone in my college dorm this way too, only it involved a 500 page document of "Hidey Ho Neighbor!"

Re:And don't paint it just like every other car...

[TamMan2000]

WEP will keep out the non-resourceful and the lazy but that's about it.

Isn't that almost everyone?

Re:Warned my neighbour

[CODiNE]

I had that exact same experience a few years ago... except it was a bank... and I didn't tell them who I was.

Re:And don't paint it just like every other car...

[ceoyoyo]

I have a friend who asked me to set up her wireless router. She lives in a big apartment building. So I connect to "Linksys", configure some stuff, turn on encryption, set the password, all good. Disconnect. Connect. What? No encryption? No password? Stupid thing must be broken. Oh well, try again, maybe it will take. Repeat. Four or five times.

Then I took a look down the list of wireless networks in the building. What do you know... I'd just finished encrypting and setting passwords on all the neighbor's wifi. Whoops. ;)