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Queensland Police to Look For Unsecured WiFi Spots
OzPeter writes "As a part of National Consumer Fraud week, the Queensland Police are going war driving in order to identify insecure WiFi setups. From the press release: 'The War Driving Project involves police conducting proactive patrols of residential and commercial areas to identify unprotected connections. Police will follow this up with a letterbox drop in the targeted area with information on how to effectively secure your connection.' While some people may like having an open WiFi AP its interesting to see that the Police also feel that 'Having WEP encryption is like using a closed screen door as your sole means of security at home. The WPA or WPA2 security encryption is certainly what we would recommend as it offers a high degree of protection.'"
Plus, it's easier for them to book you for thought crimes they catch you committing via their IP taps. They'll have none of that "but my wifi is open -- it could have been anyone" defense. That won't work for you, sir, you'll be held accountable for whatever flows through your pipes!
I'd be more worried about an identity thief stealing data than a passerby leeching bandwidth. Easier to just wall it off. FWIW, we just post the password on the fridge, so our actual guests can use it if they want.
Being able to flash a badge lets you get away with murder...why would wardriving be on the do-not-do list?
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
You should be more worried if someone uses your WiFi internet connection to do something illegal. Next moment the cops will be raiding your house, seizing all your hard drives for further examination, while you go through all the hell of the legal process attempting to prove that you are not an elephant. No thanks, if a guest wants to access my wifi he should ask for the password and take the extra 30 seconds needed to type it in.
By everyone locking down their wifi you provide credibility to the claim that an IP equals a perpetrator.
If I were to say, brute force your WPA2 using my graphics card, you would have a harder time making your case than if your wifi was open and it could have been anyone.
I care more about protecting the innocent than persecuting criminals I guess.
I doubt this i see them just making it easier to make calls off wifi and claiming its a cool new feature.
Indeed. People seem to think that leaving it open will be sufficient defense -- either glossing over or ignoring the fact that their equipment will be seized under warrant well before the authorities start asking questions that might reveal this defense. Ultimately the lack of offending content will be what saves them - not the fact that their APs are open.