-
Advertisement
Monetize your site 
-
Subscribe For Free
Nov
9
As I write this article, I am in my favourite cafe. I’ve logged onto their free internet access so I can pretend to work. A curious thing occurred when I popped open my laptop and fired it up. I automatically connected to someone else’s network - not the cafe’s. I have no idea who this person is or where they are located, they are identified as Netgear only. My computer saw an open connection with no security and logged onto it.
Voila, a free ride on someone else’s dollar.
I run into this type of security risk quite often. There are 3 competing cafes on this corner alone, each one offers Internet access. Two of them do not offer an open connection, you have to take out a subscription. I’m sure many customers log onto Netgear for free, rather than pay for the connection. I am sure some customers connect to Netgear and don’t even realise it.
What’s the problem with that? Let me count the problems:
- Netgear is the name of the router. This tells me the router is working on all the default (factory) settings. Easy to log in and reconfigure the router and lock the user out. What a major pain that can be. Think of the time wasted trying to find out why you can’t connect to the Internet. Internet providers will not help you troubleshoot your router problems so you will be on your own to figure it out.
- This also tells me the Netgear owner has zero security on their connection. This is a major problem. And don’t give me the line about “I have nothing valuable on my computer”. This answer drives me up the wall! Are your photo’s valuable to you? How about your name, email address, do you have your banking information on your computer? Do you have something like Quicken? Great way to loose your identity. Your photo’s are valuable to you! Do you really want to risk having some punk with a attitude playing around with them? How about your email address? I’m sure you will be quite pissed if they suddenly disappear.
- Just what are these anonymous users doing with your connection? I have a customer, who at the time he called me in was in his 70’s. He thought mastering cut, copy and paste were major achievements. He received a letter from a lawyer telling him to “Stop his hacking endeavours immediately” or he would be faced with court action. Turned out someone was using his connection, here in Toronto to hack into a company in Calgary. Who was this person? We never knew, but my customer was being held accountable because the ip address was his. Maybe the unknown person using your wireless connection is downloading movies. Do you think the lawyers for the Movie industry will care you left your connection wide open? Your connection, your responsibility, your lawsuit.
- Just think of the number of people who are having a free ride on Netgear’s dollar. Potentially 90 unwanted users taking up Netgear’s bandwidth in a month. Wonder if Netgear is having speed problems with their connection. Bet they are really sluggish around lunch time and after work! I calculated this by 1 customer per cafe x 3 cafes x 30 days.
- Many Internet providers have a bandwidth transfer limit. This means, the more you cruise and download, the more you may have to pay. Most providers provide their customers with plenty of bandwidth space. But bandwidth is calculated for single home use - not sharing your connection with 90 other people. I wonder if Netgear has been hit with extra fees for extreme bandwidth usage.
- I become quite steamed when I hear people talking so blithely about using someone else’s connection without permission. Stop being so damned cheap and get your own.
So, still think you don’t need to secure your wireless connection?
Comments
3 Responses to “Stealing a neighbour’s Internet connection”
Leave a Reply
-
Advertisement
-
I’m sure NetGear doesn’t loose anything. It’s the owner of the NetGear modem that loose their dollars and bandwidth.
Of course everyone should secure their wireless connection. Unless they are totally not networking literate.
The owner of the NetGear network may be uninformed, and he may be asking for trouble, but he may not be completely without recourse depending on the jurisdiction.
In Michigan a man was charged with stealing an internet cafe’s free Wi-Fi because he was outside of the cafe using their internet connection.
http://www.switched.com/2007/05/29/man-charged-for-using-cafes-free-wi-fi/
I’m not sure the state of the law in other places, but it stands to reason that at least a few other jurisdictions have similar laws that could make you think twice about connecting to that unsecured wireless network instead of the proper one you are permitted to access.
I am not sure what the laws are here in Toronto. But I suspect Netgear is one of the many computer illiterates out there.
Good comments, both of you.