ROCKFORD — Just as pirating your neighbor’s cable service to watch premium movie channels is against the law, so too is surfing the Web using someone else’s wireless Internet access. David M. Kauchak, 32, a former Machesney Park resident, is the first person in Winnebago County to be charged with remotely accessing another computer system without the owner’s approval. He pleaded guilty Tuesday to the charge and was fined $250 and sentenced to one year of court supervision. “We just want to get the word out that it is a crime. We are prosecuting it, and people need to take precautions,” Assistant State’s Attorney Tom Wartowski said. Kauchak was arrested in January in Loves Park when local authorities learned he was accessing the Internet through a nonprofit agency’s computer. Wartowski said a Loves Park police officer was on patrol in the wee hours of the morning when he saw Kauchak sitting in a car with a computer. “He slowed down, took a look and saw he had a laptop in his lap. He talked to him and put it all together,” Wartowski said. In a prepared statement, Winnebago County State’s Attorney Paul Logli said, “With the increasing use of wireless computer equipment, the people of Winnebago County need to know that their computer systems are at risk. They need to use encryption or what are known as firewalls to protect their data, much the same way locks protect their homes. “Likewise, our residents need to know that it is a crime, punishable by up to a year in jail, to access someone else’s computer, wireless system or Internet connection without that person’s approval.” http://rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060323/NEWS0107/103230036/1011 I'm sure one of my neighbours has a wireless network, every now and gain (rarely) I pick up a network called 101. Unprotected completely vulnerable. I've connected to it before, and the network seems to be a normal home one. Default gateway at 192.168.0.1 etc with internet access. IMO people shouldn't use wireless networks unless they have the sense to secure it with at least WEP.
Seriously, i can understand about "stealing" cable being illegal because you have to do some physical work to steal a connection, but c'mon its a wireless network, if you're leaving it unsecure you're leaving it for anyone to connect. From my laptop i get 5 connections from time to time and the only secure one is mine. It's common sense, if you don't want people "all up in your netowork" then protect it. What sucks is that he has to pay a fine of 250 bucks, he coulda just went up to the dude and said, i'll give you ten bucks a month to let me leech of your internet lol. or pay 15 for dsl...
It's just plain retarded that *any* organization has wide-open wireless access eithout so much as MAC filtering, let alone encryption. They have somebody's son/nephew/whatever come in and setup their IT infrastructure, then spend all their time fighting to keep everything running. They'd be better off just hiring a real professional consultant for a few hours and avoiding all the trouble later on. It may cost more up front, but it saves a lot of time, money, and frustration in the long run.
Thats y I dont use wireless connection because I know that I dont have enough knowledge and will end up with lots of security flaws in my computer for attackers to attack......
so does this mean that if you go to a place like mc donalds, and take your psp with you, and use mc donalds wireless stuff to access the internet, you can actually get nicked?
I don't believe so, using someone's wireless connection without permission would be illegal. Its really not that hard to secure a wireless network appropriately for home use. Corporate networks which really need to be locked down shouldn't be considering wireless really, unless 802.11i security has something special to offer.
Yes exactly, or if so the wireless subnet should be in a secure DMZ -- totally isolated from the internal network -- and all traffic should be forced through a proxy and/or captive gateway. The only connections that should be allowed from wireless subnets to local servers should be via VPN connections (if that). Layered security is always best, especially with something as untrustworthy as wireless. The more layers, the lower the chance of network compromise.
My neighbor's connection isn't secure and sometimes my laptop connects to it without me even realizing it. OMG, I'm going to jail!
I think WEP had already been cracked before it was even released! Although it might stop the casual hacker, a determined hacker could break through easily. Likewise, there are ways to get around MAC filtering with various tools. Has WPA been released yet, or is that part of 802.11i?
WPA1 is fully supported in most wireless devices, WPA2 isn't supported in all. My netgear AP supports it though, don't think my laptop card does though.
