Schneier Says 'Steal this Wi-Fi' 432
apolloose noted Bruce Schneier's latest entry on Wired where he talks about insecured wifi networks, and suggests that you
Steal this WiFi. Basically, since insecure WiFi is everywhere, why not? You're helping make the world a little better for someone else.
Re:how do i crack a WEP password? (Score:1, Informative)
Why steal when you can share? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Steal Wi-Fi? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Encrypted private *and* unencrypted open wi-fi (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Beware of strangers bearing gifts (Score:3, Informative)
think it's OK .... better stay in the USA then (Score:3, Informative)
See this example in the UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/6565079.stm [bbc.co.uk]
Re:Yeah, but... (Score:5, Informative)
What he said was, "If I enabled wireless security on my network and someone hacked it, I would have a far harder time proving my innocence", and I often wonder if he's right. Like you, I'm pretty terrified of the accusation, so my network is locked down as tight as I can get it. I use WPA with a strong password, MAC address filtering, I renumbered the subnet from the default, I set a strong administrator password, and disabled DHCP... and if I can think of anything else I can do to lock it down, I'll probably do it, out of fear that somebody will do something nefarious with it.
On the other hand, if I do get hacked (somehow), all that work will probably hang me. Couple that with the fact that I have an advanced degree in computer science (which to the average slashdot reader seems to mean I now *nothing* about computers, but would surely impress a jury of my "peers" that I'm impervious to being hacked), and if my network is used against me, I'm getting the death penalty.
Re:Encrypted private *and* unencrypted open wi-fi (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Beware of strangers bearing gifts (Score:5, Informative)
All of that means you aren't going to do shit; the payoff just isn't worth it and it's not as easy as some
Re:He's being an idiot. (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Anonymity (Score:1, Informative)
http://functionpix.com/index.php/article/London_man_is_arrested_for_tapping_into_unsecured_WiFi_in_Chiswick/1586/ [functionpix.com]
USA:
http://www.theinternetpatrol.com/law-would-make-it-illegal-to-have-unsecured-wifi [theinternetpatrol.com]
Re:Yeah, but... (Score:3, Informative)
That actually seems to work! (Score:4, Informative)
Hey, how about that? Here's a link an article about it. [techdirt.com]
"The IP address simply can help you know who paid for the internet access, but not who was using what computer on a network. In fact, this even had some people suggesting that, if you want to win a lawsuit from the RIAA, you're best off opening up your WiFi network to neighbors. It seems like this strategy might actually be working. Earlier this month the inability to prove who actually did the file sharing caused the RIAA to drop a case in Oklahoma and now it looks like the same defense has worked in a California case as well. In both cases, though, as soon as the RIAA realized the person was using this defense, they dropped the case, rather than lose it and set a precedent showing they really don't have the unequivocal evidence they claim they do."
Well, whaddya know?
I don't even own any WiFi equipment for fear of someone using my connection to do something questionable...but now maybe I will buy one. Nothing like a get out of jail free card, y'know?
Re:Yeah, but... (Score:3, Informative)
The six dumbest ways to secure a wireless LAN [zdnet.com]