Steff Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...s_wi_fi_theft_1 Man Charged With Stealing Wi-Fi Signal Wed Jul 6, 8:15 PM ET ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Police have arrested a man for using someone else's wireless Internet network in one of the first criminal cases involving this fairly common practice. Benjamin Smith III, 41, faces a pretrial hearing this month following his April arrest on charges of unauthorized access to a computer network, a third-degree felony. Police say Smith admitted using the Wi-Fi signal from the home of Richard Dinon, who had noticed Smith sitting in an SUV outside Dinon's house using a laptop computer. The practice is so new that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement doesn't even keep statistics, according to the St. Petersburg Times, which reported Smith's arrest this week. Innocuous use of other people's unsecured Wi-Fi networks is common, though experts say that plenty of illegal use also goes undetected: such as people sneaking on others' networks to traffic in child pornography, steal credit card information and send death threats. Security experts say people can prevent such access by turning on encryption or requiring passwords, but few bother or are unsure how to do so. Wi-Fi, short for Wireless Fidelity, has enjoyed prolific growth since 2000. Millions of households have set up wireless home networks that give people like Dinon the ability to use the Web from their backyards but also reach the house next door or down the street. It's not clear why Smith was using Dinon's network. Prosecutors declined to comment, and a working phone number could not be located for Smith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted July 8, 2005 Author Share Posted July 8, 2005 Someone change that to "your" please.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted July 8, 2005 Author Share Posted July 8, 2005 And "wireless" also.. Good grief. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 QUOTE(Steff @ Jul 8, 2005 -> 08:24 AM) And "wireless" also.. Good grief. done and done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted July 8, 2005 Author Share Posted July 8, 2005 QUOTE(Texsox @ Jul 8, 2005 -> 08:25 AM) done and done Gracias amigo.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 Actually some businesses and individuals run an "open connection" on purpose. Kind of a commune approach. It will be interesting to see how this is handled in court. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsideirish71 Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 QUOTE(Steff @ Jul 8, 2005 -> 07:23 AM) http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...s_wi_fi_theft_1 Man Charged With Stealing Wi-Fi Signal Wed Jul 6, 8:15 PM ET ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Police have arrested a man for using someone else's wireless Internet network in one of the first criminal cases involving this fairly common practice. Benjamin Smith III, 41, faces a pretrial hearing this month following his April arrest on charges of unauthorized access to a computer network, a third-degree felony. Police say Smith admitted using the Wi-Fi signal from the home of Richard Dinon, who had noticed Smith sitting in an SUV outside Dinon's house using a laptop computer. The practice is so new that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement doesn't even keep statistics, according to the St. Petersburg Times, which reported Smith's arrest this week. Innocuous use of other people's unsecured Wi-Fi networks is common, though experts say that plenty of illegal use also goes undetected: such as people sneaking on others' networks to traffic in child pornography, steal credit card information and send death threats. Security experts say people can prevent such access by turning on encryption or requiring passwords, but few bother or are unsure how to do so. Wi-Fi, short for Wireless Fidelity, has enjoyed prolific growth since 2000. Millions of households have set up wireless home networks that give people like Dinon the ability to use the Web from their backyards but also reach the house next door or down the street. It's not clear why Smith was using Dinon's network. Prosecutors declined to comment, and a working phone number could not be located for Smith. As a network security professional, I can tell you just by scans on the way home and by other companies in my building that 70% of the access points are open or have limited security. Its one thing when its a hotspot that is meant to be open, its another when the person just doesnt know enough about the risks or doesnt know how to configure them and leaves the access point open and unsecured. AT&T (now Comcast) had a promotion a year ago that gave a wireless router with new service. The amount of unsecured wireless access points that jumped up in my neighborhood was silly. Its only a matter of time before bad guys realize this and start to use this more and more as a method of anonymity from our boys at the FBI. And people are taking cracks at these access points. They are going beyond just wardriving. I have a honeypot(decoy system) at my work on a wireless segment that gets hit by people trying to break in. I see about 5 hits a month on it. The wardrivers have been mapping this area for a few years now. GPS enabled geeks driving around with mapping software. I may or may not have done this in my past. Wifi Maps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.