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Could That Be The Wireless Police Knocking?
netbuzz writes "Should private-property owners be required to practice safe wireless? Are the wireless police about to come a-knockin' on the front door of your castle? Network World reports on a condo complex in Arizona that will monitor your wireless signal for security. Is this the way all condos and apartment complexes should go?" From the article: "'We just kind of kicked it around the table and everybody said that's a helluva good idea, (mandatory encryption) ought to go in the declarations,' says Welch. However, a lawyer warned that wireless technology could quickly overrun any specific covenants they put to paper, 'so we decided that instead of recording (declarations) at the county that we would leave it up to the hotel manager to put it in their rules and regulations.' Why bother at all? 'We just don't want to see anybody hurt with their wireless system,' says Welch. 'If someone (unauthorized) were accessing it and an owner's information, there could be damage and a potential lawsuit.'"
FTFA: "We just don't want to see anybody hurt with their wireless system," says Welch. "If someone (unauthorized) were accessing it and an owner's information, there could be damage and a potential lawsuit."
absolutely ridiculous. maybe they should start digging through our trash to make sure we've properly shredded our monthly bank statements too.
Furthermore, this rule would be a total paper tiger, as far as enforcement goes, since wep [which i do believe is the most common security protocol in use for wifi today] is widely known NOT to be secure. It will be ironic when the first whitehat captures a few days worth of packets from outside that guy's home and then published the unencrypted contents of his web traffic.
I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.
i will never have to learn from my mistakes ever again.
This is a waste of time and money. People should secure their own networks. If you don't know how then you pay someone to do it for you. If you can't afford it, then how are you able to afford a wireless network. Period.
Why should any government, company or anyone else worry about someone else's network connection security -- unless they're being paid by that party to do so. And in the case of a government (city/state/local/federal) being responsible; don't make ME pay for it.
Xserv
"I love lamp."
get blamed when someone breaks into my house if I leave the door unlocked?
Or should I be blamed when Windows automatically connects me to open APs?
And...If we are going to go that far?
Why not get these people in trouble for using WEP to begin with?
Safe wireless? WEP is like using a condom that's been poked with holes.
This seems silly. If you want to protect your own private property or not, that's your own business. They don't require you to lock your apartment door when you leave. They don't require you to lock your car door when you park in your parking space. How is this any different?
That is just nuts!
I run mine wide open because that is they way I want it. I secure my machine of course, but if someone is within range and wants to use my connection, I don't have a problem with that. Hell, my SID is actually "WideOpen".
I used my neighbor's DSL for over a year, but I eventually got my own. There is no reason every house on a block should purchase their own Internet connection, and wireless network. Apartment buildings are in an even better situation. All that money that people are spending on individual connections could purchase a lot higher speed connection for everyone and still save money.
-- -- Warning. Do not stare directly at the sun.
I know several people who leave theirs open for neighbors and friends to use without encumberance. It's a nice gesture, one in which a private good becomes a public good via goodwill. Even with bittorrent running I'm not using all of my bandwidth at all times.
Besides this, do we mandate that folks lock their car and house doors? Are there laws against leaving a key under the rug, on the door frame, or below your car door?
I'm on a road shaped like a figure eight; I'm going nowhere but I'm guaranteed to be late.
I'd argue that their rules are preempted by the FCC's regulations on spectrum use. The FCC usually takes a dim view of people who trespass on their turf.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
Suppose a known sex offender began moving child porn over YOUR wireless network.
I would love to see you explain that away as an "oops, I forgot to turn encryption and
authentification on" to the police following the pervert. They will FIRST get you for
aiding and abetting the crime.
This stuff, security, only makes sense in today's world.
There is a difference between laws and condominium covenants you know...
/. crowd applauding end users for not only caring about their networks but actually taking pro-active steps to prevent break ins? Sure, it's not a perfect solution, but it's certainly better than the status-quo and it keeps over zealous government types from being able to create actual laws to enforce this behavior ("Look, we've already got encryption. No need to legislate it.").
So, the owners decided to implement access point security and pool their resources to provide monitoring (I guess, the article isn't too clear on enforcement methodology). Why isn't the
The real reason is "plausible deniability".
If you have an open connection then you can't be found guilty in court of any cybercrimes comitted via your Internet connection. The thought police can't bear the thought of that.
No sig today...
According to the article
In summary, the condo developers are providing the broadband connection and want to make sure that the condo owners secure their endpoints. Open access points have some risks that the developers are apparently not willing to accept. As a goodwill gesture they could retain a local networking firm to help owners set up their wireless networks properly though.'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
"I wouldn't consider doing heart surgery on my brother who had a heart attack"
This is not heart surgery, it is a consumer product. It performs commonly used functions in a standard way, within standard capabilities. One should not need to hire an expert for common consumer grade functions (even when there is an incredible amount of technology 'under the covers').
In the early days of automobiles, it was necessary to hire a driver because driving was complicated and dangerous -- you could break your arm if you got it wrong starting it, and you had to manage spark advance and several other long-since-automated controls in addition to the throttle, brake and clutch. Now, hardly anyone even knows what is under the hood.
In early networking, there were many protocols, and IP addresses were set by hand. It is now approaching the point where it is a plug-and-play product, and this is GOOD.
Progress is not only making the previously impossible, possible -- progress is also making the previously difficult, easy.
Technologists who understand this will have more and happier customers. Technologists who don't are almost as bad as Luddites in holding back technology.
The GP post is absolutely right -- the top-level UI should hide functions that are not commonly changed, and make clear what should be changed ("YourNetworkNameHere" is a GREAT idea). Uncommon, expert level functions should be available, but only via deeper UI levels.
Please say you're kidding. Cite any reliable source for this.
2. it is one of the ways terrorists can communicate safely without any chance of being tracked
Kind of true. But they can also do this with encryption, public payphones, prepaid cellphones, wireless networks with WEP-encryption, etc, etc.
3. unprotected wireless access is an open invitation to hackers to steal important personal information (including financial info)
Having sensitive personal info on your PC has always been an "invitation" for someone to steal it. Ever heard of malware? If you can't take care of your sensitive data, shame on you.
In this day and age, having unprotected wireless access is akin to having your home telephone line available to public. Imagine your surprise when police knocks on your door and tells you your home phone was used to call a remote cell phone to trigger a bomb and you please ignorance saying well it is available to everyone.
Again, you've gotta be braindead. Ever heard of "payphones"? Does it make the phone company liable?