Hey Neighbor, Stop Piggybacking on My Wireless

New York Times ^ | 3/5/06 | MICHEL MARRIOTT

[conservative in nyc]

For a while, the wireless Internet connection Christine and Randy Brodeur installed last year seemed perfect. They were able to sit in their sunny Los Angeles backyard working on their laptop computers.

But they soon began noticing that their high-speed Internet access had become as slow as rush-hour traffic on the 405 freeway.

"I didn't know whether to blame it on the Santa Ana winds or what," recalled Mrs. Brodeur, the chief executive of Socket Media, a marketing and public relations agency.

The "what" turned out to be neighbors who had tapped into their system. The additional online traffic nearly choked out the Brodeurs, who pay a $40 monthly fee for their Internet service, slowing their access until it was practically unusable.

Piggybacking, the usually unauthorized tapping into someone else's wireless Internet connection, is no longer the exclusive domain of pilfering computer geeks or shady hackers cruising for unguarded networks. Ordinarily upstanding people are tapping in. As they do, new sets of Internet behaviors are creeping into America's popular culture.

"I don't think it's stealing," said Edwin Caroso, a 21-year-old student at Miami Dade College, echoing an often-heard sentiment.

"I always find people out there who aren't protecting their connection, so I just feel free to go ahead and use it," Mr. Caroso said. He added that he tapped into a stranger's network mainly for Web surfing, keeping up with e-mail, text chatting with friends in foreign countries and doing homework.

Many who piggyback say the practice does not feel like theft because it does not seem to take anything away from anyone. One occasional piggybacker recently compared it to "reading the newspaper over someone's shoulder."

[NYTexan]

I just can't fight your logic!

If it's in the air, it's fair game!

[HiTech RedNeck]

I wonder how this wireless thing can be good in terms of security with the CIA and the tracking of bad guys since anyone can roam around and tap into anyones wireless network...

Oh my yes. Someone could drive by and email a threat to the President. Good luck proving it wasn't you....

[Kozak]

. I wonder how many of these people have been sued by the over-zealous RIAA when someone illegally downloaded music using their network.

Just think of the damage you could do to someone you didn't like by using their IP to download say, kiddie porn, or bomb making recipes, then putting a little note in to the authorities....

[HiTech RedNeck]

but he was not a l33t h@X04

[georgiagirl3814]

Dummy here. Please explain to me, in the morning, what this is all about. I don't want anyone to use my wireless, I didn't know it was possible. Please explain what it is I need to know/do to protect myself.

Signed,
Ignorant to accessibility

[Echo Talon]

Oh my yes. Someone could drive by and email a threat to the President. Good luck proving it wasn't you

Well, not just that, but terrorist talking to each other and the rest

[conservative in nyc]

Two words: WEP Key.

I know that (and to keep the network somewhat hidden by not broadcasting the SSID). Many people don't. Most folks around here don't even bother changing their router name from the factory default setting, let alone lock people out.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I'm curious if the instructions that came with your wireless whatever even made more than a passing mention of security.

[Echo Talon]

Just think of the damage you could do to someone you didn't like by using their IP to download say, kiddie porn, or bomb making recipes, then putting a little note in to the authorities....

Bingo! hmmm kind of scary. I bring my laptop in my car and i get wireless connection when i pull into most gas stations and other businesses

[HiTech RedNeck]

And imagine if they were using FR as the rendezvous point. Wouldn't that be a bummer.

[etcetera]

"There's no gauge, no measuring device that says 48 people are using your access," Ms. Edwards said.

There are freeware sniffer programs that can show what addresses your router has assigned. However, they use Winpcap (also free) to detect network cards so most sniffing devices have to be hard wired into the router. There are some wireless cards that work with Winpcap and they are listed on the Winpcap Web site.

[TChad]

WEP is better than nothing, but it is much more secure to use one of the later technologies, such as WPA. WEP was hacked a long time ago.

This is a reasonable guide to setting up WPA:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1277022,00.asp

[Echo Talon]

If we seen t's posting to each other i think we would get them banned! :) unless they were freepmailing each other then it would be hard US to know what they were doing, although the MODs can probably read that stuff.

[JoeSixPack1]

When not in need of my wireless I hot swap the cable modem back to the internal card. My wireless HUB, not being MIMO, cuts down my speed. The swapping gives me an absolute lockout and takes all of 5 seconds. Plus, I never do any financial stuff over the wireless. :-)

[Petronski]

If your browser can handle flash, click here then click on the picture of the daddy and the little girl:

You'll see a nice basic primer on all this.

[Maximus_Ridiculousness]

First, I create a user name and password for my router. Then I designate the total number of users to the number of computers in the household (3). Then, I change the wireless settings to only allow the specific MAC addressed of the computers I have. Then, I create the WEP key.

Overkill?

[garylmoore]

If it's in the air, it's fair game!

I agree, I do it all the time, I travel a lot and always seem to get a signal wherever I go, really convenient.

[Bon mots]

It's also called wardriving.

Wardriving.Com