What happens when you turn on your laptop's WiFi connection and four to 10 WiFi networks are detected - many of them
them unsecure? Why, you connect to one of the unsecure ones and surf away, right? That is what millions of people
probably do in close-knit living situations like condos and apartments. Sitting here as I type this, I can see six WiFi
networks - three of them unsecure, and three secure - so at least what I can see is against the odds (50% are
secure).What do I do to secure my network from piggybackers? 1) turn of SSID broadcast, 2) allow only the MAC addresses of my networkable devices onto my network, 3) enable WEP/WPA encryption and use long, random encryption keys. This pretty much keeps anyone off my network but me. I say "pretty much" because a severe hacker could penetrate my network possibly, but I'm not too worried. I am worried about these three unsecure networks around me, as I connected to one of them which had fle and print sharing turned on - and I was browsing this person's "My Documents" folder. Now, I stopped doing this immediately, but it just goes to show what most people are exposing when leaving wireless networks unsecure. So, although I lke to share, no piggybacking for me or by me.
1. Wifi piggybacking is a harmless activity, as long as you don't disrupt the other person's network or computer activities , how does it harm them????
Look at it this way, the radio signal is trespassing on your space (your car, your home) so I don;t see anything wrong with taking advantage of it.. Now as long as your simply using the signal for surfing and not causing any havoc I say whats the big deal. Now poking around someone's lan I think thats where you cross the line, from casual wifi surfer to hacker..
At then end of the day all someone has to do is secure their network with web.. this is akin to broadcasting a conversation on 2-way radio its public airways...
I have a couple of AP's open, mostly from my convenience when I'm outside the house..
Posted at 5:17PM on Mar 29th 2006 by anonymous coward