Wardrivers could get 170 years in prison if convicted.

[coopdog]

Story (http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2004/8/5/technology/8602189&sec=technology)

170 years?! Come on! That's how much some serial murders get! It's Lowes fault that they don't have a secure network for credit card info! Man I have done this kind of stuff. Never installing viruses or key loggers, but I have colected tons of information from downtown open networks. So what if in intercepeted a credit card info packet?! Hmm. I'll be alittle more careful what open networks I log onto and what programs I use while on them.

[Abstract]

Wow, that's pretty bad.

Remember the story of the guy who kicked a dog like he would a football and killed it in front of his owner? The dog killer got....what, 6 months? :rolleyes:

[King Cobra]

I think that's supposed to read 17 years...amazing what one little error can do to some articles.

[MikeLaRiviere]

I think 170 may be correct, if one were to stack each sentence on the other. But judges and juries are made of people, not sociopaths, so no one would serve a life sentence for something of the sort.

Mike LaRiviere

[Counterfit]

Hmm, it seems like every single one of those crimes could be committed remotely, over a wired network as well... :rolleyes: ;)

[virividox]

thats a bit extreme!!!

[edesignuk]

WTF is a business doing using a wireless network, everyone knows how insecure they are. Idiots.

[Mord]

they tend to set up a wireless network and give the employees laptops but then bolt them to the desk in case someone steals them, i kid you not thats what they did where my friends dad works

[MikeLaRiviere]

Where does your friend's dad work? That makes little sense, because Bank of America issues laptops that, of course, employees can take home and travel with, and the B of A building in Chicago doesn't even have a wireless network.

Mike LaRiviere

[SilentPanda]

Sometimes when I'm driving and happen to have my laptop with me I'll prop it up in the passenger seat and just log (using KisMac or the like) to see what's around... I'm fairly amazed by the number of open wireless networks that I pick up. On a 15 mile or so stretch (most of which is only semi-residential) I can get well over 100 wireless networks and I kid you not... 90% of them do not have any password. My own wireless network is hidden, MAC address fixed, and uses WPA. I suppose in theory somebody could hack it but... unless they're looking for information about me they might as well drive down the street and get on somebody elses for free.

Most of the networks I find are named "D-Link" or "Linksys". While maybe it's good for me that there's a lot of open networks I really wish that they required a user to set a password or some such thing. Or at least prompted saying, "Would you like to set a password for your network?" as I suppose I could see some people actually not wanting a password.

I thought about just locating some of these wireless networks and knocking on peoples doors asking them if they knew that their network was available to the public... sigh...

[question fear]

170 is extreme, yes.
but these guys were not "accidentally" dl'ing credit card #s, they were ACTIVELY capturing them through a program they installed at Lowes.
Thats a bit different.

[Apple Hobo]

I have someone's network available in my Airport toolbar menu. MacStumbler says it's a Linksys and has no WEP enabled. The signal is too weak to do anything like surf the internet. At the very least, turn on WEP or WPA, turn off your SSID broadcast, use MAC filtering, and set a good password! This might not make your network 100% impenetrable, but it's better than nothing.

[MikeLaRiviere]

Something interesting: when I'm on the train I connect to the internet using bluetooth GPRS. However, when I turn off AirPort, I find computer-to-computer networks, one called "t mobile" and another that is some series of letters. Leaving from my station, I always see "t mobile" but can't get internet from it. I'm wondering if I'm happening upon the Starbucks which is a T-Mobile HotSpot, though it is about one or two blocks away. If anyone happens to take the Metra through or from Glencoe, IL, let me know if you've seen this and what you think it is.

Mike LaRiviere

[GeckoHD]

A network called T Mobile is very probably a public network, probably in a coffee shop like Starbucks.

[homerjward]

these are the kinda people who ruin wireless networks for the rest of us. just like those damn terrorists who blow up landmarks so the government closes 'em all...next thing you know, the government will be shutting down wifi networks..

[Chip NoVaMac]

As a victim of identity theft, i think 17 or 170 years is too light. We need punishment that will make f**king scum like this think twice. It took me a couple of years and many hours to correct for what some one thought was an innocent crime. I would have loved to have the a-holes that stole my ID to scrub my toilets every day for the rest of their lives.

Quit trying to make f**king excuses for low lifes!

[wdlove]

I think that the 12 years mentioned by the persecutor sounds more reasonable. Probably after they get out they can get a job in preventing this type of problem.

[aswitcher]

I wonder if the WEP versus WPA debate will come up to demonstrate Macs improved security over most PC WiFi products

[Mechcozmo]

I've found that open networks=free hi-speed 'net service. I stay away from accsessing people's stuff, becaues although they are most likely too stupid to log IPs, they never have anything good anyways ;) Just Kidding! I don't like to hack in, even though I can. I feel like god, being able to but not...

If anyone wants to know, I once edited someones file to automatically start up the defrag utility each log-in.
"I am evil Homer! I am evil Homer!"

[iMeowbot]

I wonder if the WEP versus WPA debate will come up to demonstrate Macs improved security over most PC WiFi products
Honestly, with so many wide-open WLANs out there, I don't think that many people will notice the difference. Places that are really on the ball with security are already using end-to-end methods like VLANs and SSH tunnels, or not making wireless available.

[phiberoptik957]

WTF is a business doing using a wireless network, everyone knows how insecure they are. Idiots.

If properly configured there is no more of a security problem than a wired network. Really in some ways it is more secure. No reason to call someone an idiot