Unsecured Networks Open Doors To Crime Anonymity allows more activity to take place Sure, we know that we need to secure our home and business computer networks to prevent obvious computer crimes such as identity theft. But have you ever thought about the number of other crimes which can take place on unsecured networks, including public WiFi spots, because of the anonymity of using those locations for connection? The Washington Post points out that criminals can sit in public spaces and engage in such crimes as online sex solicitation of minors without much fear of being caught for their activities. Even when police become aware of such activity, they may have trouble tracking users and tracing the paths of criminals. One suggestion is for cities with public WiFi to institute filtering systems which scan who accesses the network. What do you think?
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1 edit | It's amazing.... how so many people leave their networks unsecured. I was just checking out the settings on a nearby wireless router... the 2nd in about a month without having the default password changed.
I didn't screw around with it as "hacking" is not my thing. However, it astounds me that no one changes this stuff out of the box, making way for cybercrime to be even more rampant. -- The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary. | |
|  |  NerdtalkerWorking Hard, Or Hardly Working?Premium,MVM join:2003-02-18 Tucson, AZ 1 edit | Re: It's amazing.... This really isn't anything new, but it's high time that people start getting concerned. Basically, using wireless access points IS the new anonymous portal to the internet. As long as you don't have any responsibility over the network, you're free to do basically whatever you want. (I realize that legally that is not the case)
Regardless, I doubt it will ever be possible to fully eliminate every single unlocked/insecure AP. My own surveys have shown that roughly 2/3rds or less of people are running any encryption, including the worthless old WEP.
Filtering isn't going to do anything in the long run, it's more of a band-aid fix than a real solution. Perhaps one of the best way to combat this for real big public "hotspots" would be to use a captive portal system that somehow requires users to disclose a real identity. This is hard, but would it be possible to say, run a credit card through and charge a paltry 1 cent? Just to establish some user history? Even that will probably fail, because users can just as easily setup their own AP (joe's wifi cafe) without any grandiose authentication.
As long as the user is mobile, it will be equally as difficult to keep any user identity identification in place. | |
|  |  |  Romney2012Defeat Obama 2012-Chg we can believe inPremium join:2002-03-03 USA kudos:4 | Re: It's amazing.... said by Nerdtalker:As long as the user is mobile, it will be equally as difficult to keep any user identity identification in place. Just like with the Vin# burned into every car(and now on many of the parts as well) sold in the US to help track car thieves, we need a system where every device capable of communicating must have a serial number that is burned into the chip and that must communicate that number before access can be given to transfer data.
And every communications capable device being sold would match its serial number or numbers with the name and address of the person buying the device. In effect you would have a national registry matching a person with the devices they own and it could track everytime that device links to a provider network.
Of course, there would be hot, stolen devices - just like there is with cars and guns. But 95% of the devices would be able to be traced back to a specific person. Of course, all the people who think they have a right to privacy will whine, but I never hear them whining about how their car can be tracked back to them. -- -- My BLOG My Web Page | |
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 |  |  |  | | Re: It's amazing.... This already exists in a way, each network device has a unique MAC address.
1. It can be forged/modified 2. It only lives between the first hop. So hard to track.
Fixing #2 would require a massive undertaking in changing how TCP/IP works... and cost way more than anyone would even invest. | |
|  |  |  |  |  Romney2012Defeat Obama 2012-Chg we can believe inPremium join:2002-03-03 USA kudos:4 | Re: It's amazing.... said by raccettura:This already exists in a way, each network device has a unique MAC address. 1. It can be forged/modified I was thinking about an encrypted serial number that couldn't be forged. -- -- My BLOG My Web Page | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  NerdtalkerWorking Hard, Or Hardly Working?Premium,MVM join:2003-02-18 Tucson, AZ | Re: It's amazing.... said by Romney2012:I was thinking about an encrypted serial number that couldn't be forged. Sadly (or for the better), that's an illusion of wishful thinking.
Conceivably, that "serial number" should already exist in the form of a mac address, but even that isn't worth anything, at all.
As long as the user controls the product, there will remain a way for it to be tampered with, period.
The day that simple fact of logic becomes false is the day I throw my computer away, lock myself inside, and sigh myself into a catatonic state, because that day, freedom of speech and anonymity is truly dead. -- "Some people never see the light till it shines thru bullet holes." -Bruce Cockburn
I'm testing Gmail's spam filters: Broadbandreports1@gmail.com Spam: 12900+ messages currently using 406 MB. | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  Stumbles join:2002-12-17 Port Saint Lucie, FL | There isn't anything that can't be forged. | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  Romney2012Defeat Obama 2012-Chg we can believe inPremium join:2002-03-03 USA kudos:4 | Re: It's amazing.... said by Stumbles:There isn't anything that can't be forged. That is true. But you can make it very hard to do for the vast majority of users. That is the game that law enforcement plays all the time. -- -- My BLOG My Web Page | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  1 edit | Re: It's amazing.... supporting a police state? Of course..
Ask yourself this question. If you pass these laws you want (i.e. require everyone to have a monitored, licensed connection to the internet, where your entire history, every post, every site you visit, every e-mail is recorded. Ask yourself if you'd feel comfortable with that law if you knew that I would be in charge of it. You know, of course, that I would use the law to have the secret police arrest you, for your seditious postings.
The constitution exists to protect us. Freedom of speech CANNOT be assured if everyone has to register to speak. So, pass your 'save the children' laws, but don't be suprised when the men in black come for YOU. -- Stick it to the MAN. Support your local torrent sites. Proudly providing 100mb of upstream for all your TV, Movie, and MP3 needs. | |
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 |  |  |  |  |  nixenRockin' the BoxenPremium join:2002-10-04 Alexandria, VA | said by Romney2012:said by raccettura:This already exists in a way, each network device has a unique MAC address. 1. It can be forged/modified I was thinking about an encrypted serial number that couldn't be forged. Hah... Anything that has a software component can always be changed. Get used to it. And, no matter how hard you try to make it, that difficulty will only last for a VERY short while. There's a joy in breaking protections and there's a joy in making it so others can break protections easily so that the protection is utterly destroyed.
-tom -- "Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficial. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding." -Louis D Brandeis | |
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 |  |  |  gatorkramKaBOOM BabyPremium join:2002-07-22 Winterville, NC kudos:2 | You make me sick. | |
|  |  |  |  | | Wow, you're not going for half measures; you want to institute the surveillance state whole hog. You work for Fatherland Homeland Security by any chance? | |
|  |  |  |  | | spoke he who believes the government should stay the hell out of our lives. It's a shame you have no love of individual liberty to match your love of corporate liberation.
VIN numbers on cars don't transmit themselves and don't leave a trail of data, linked to you, as to where you have been and what you have been doing the whole time you have been using them.
This is the single most appalling idea you have espoused on these forums. | |
|  |  |  |  c0de join:2004-10-14 Richmond, VA | Oddly enough, I will agree with you. The ammount of illegal activity that happens over the internet (espically with sexual predators) is at an all time high. And most of these people are actually smart/insane enoungh to use public WiFi.
As for the serial number, why not. establish it as a serial number associated with the owner. some sort of registry. this im sure would be very hard to do, but i don't see it being to far feched.
Also, does anyone remember the P3(or was it P4) that has the embeded serial id that can be turned on and off? | |
|  |  |  |  |  calvoiper join:2003-03-31 Belvedere Tiburon, CA | Re: It's amazing.... Sheesh, while we're at it, why don't you suggest we each just have our Social Security number tattooed on our foreheads?
calvoiper -- VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  c0de join:2004-10-14 Richmond, VA | Re: It's amazing.... umm the tattoo is a bit extreme, but its not too far off from reality. they are employing RFID chips into drivers licens & id cards in the near future... | |
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 |  |  |  gatorkramKaBOOM BabyPremium join:2002-07-22 Winterville, NC kudos:2 Reviews:
·Suddenlink
1 edit | said by Romney2012:said by Nerdtalker:As long as the user is mobile, it will be equally as difficult to keep any user identity identification in place. Just like with the Vin# burned into every car(and now on many of the parts as well) sold in the US to help track car thieves, we need a system where every device capable of communicating must have a serial number that is burned into the chip and that must communicate that number before access can be given to transfer data. And every communications capable device being sold would match its serial number or numbers with the name and address of the person buying the device. In effect you would have a national registry matching a person with the devices they own and it could track everytime that device links to a provider network. Of course, there would be hot, stolen devices - just like there is with cars and guns. But 95% of the devices would be able to be traced back to a specific person. Of course, all the people who think they have a right to privacy will whine, but I never hear them whining about how their car can be tracked back to them. What else do you advocate in protecting the masses from themselves? Mandatory random road stops, you know, just to make sure you aren't breaking any laws. And hey, while we are at it, why not mandatory random home invasions by the gvmnt too, you know, just to make sure everything is ok, and no laws are being broken. What a wonderful world it would be.
I already feel so much safer with just the idea of these plans being put into actions. -- Give me bandwidth or give me death! | |
|  |  |  |  |  Romney2012Defeat Obama 2012-Chg we can believe inPremium join:2002-03-03 USA kudos:4 | Re: It's amazing.... said by gatorkram:What else do you advocate in protecting the masses from themselves? Mandatory random road stops, you know, just to make sure you aren't breaking any laws. I already feel so much safer with just the idea of these plans being put into actions. Random road stops are already legal and carried out across the US. -- -- My BLOG My Web Page | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  81399672Premium join:2006-05-17 Los Angeles, CA kudos:2 | Re: It's amazing.... said by Romney2012:said by gatorkram:What else do you advocate in protecting the masses from themselves? Mandatory random road stops, you know, just to make sure you aren't breaking any laws. I already feel so much safer with just the idea of these plans being put into actions. Random road stops are already legal and carried out across the US. No they are not legal and no they are not carried out. Now if you talking about specific road stops such as DUI check point, driver licences then yes they are legal but just random pulling people over is not legal | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  gatorkramKaBOOM BabyPremium join:2002-07-22 Winterville, NC kudos:2 Reviews:
·Suddenlink
1 edit | said by Romney2012:said by gatorkram:What else do you advocate in protecting the masses from themselves? Mandatory random road stops, you know, just to make sure you aren't breaking any laws. I already feel so much safer with just the idea of these plans being put into actions. Random road stops are already legal and carried out across the US. What's the matter, couldn't stomach saying random home inspections would be ok too? What's the matter man? Come on, you know you want it, unless you have something to hide, right? I mean, we should all be for it, if we have nothing to hide, right?
edit: Also, don't send me site pms, when you have yours disabled, TCH. -- Give me bandwidth or give me death! | |
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 |  |  |  Warez_ZealotRural land of the rising sun join:2006-04-19 Hamilton, ON 4 edits | said by Romney2012:said by Nerdtalker:As long as the user is mobile, it will be equally as difficult to keep any user identity identification in place. Just like with the Vin# burned into every car(and now on many of the parts as well) sold in the US to help track car thieves, we need a system where every device capable of communicating must have a serial number that is burned into the chip and that must communicate that number before access can be given to transfer data. And every communications capable device being sold would match its serial number or numbers with the name and address of the person buying the device. In effect you would have a national registry matching a person with the devices they own and it could track everytime that device links to a provider network. Of course, there would be hot, stolen devices - just like there is with cars and guns. But 95% of the devices would be able to be traced back to a specific person. Of course, all the people who think they have a right to privacy will whine, but I never hear them whining about how their car can be tracked back to them. No offense, but how the hell would you keep a registry of all the people? What would stop me from buying a wifi card online from an overseas retailer? The list goes on.
BTW, by "No Offense" I hope you take great offense and post something even more nonsensical.
--edit--
Boohoo, *sniff, sniff*  -- The meek shall inherit the earth but don't forget the poor are the ones who inherit the debt. | |
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 |  |  roamer1sticking it out at you join:2001-03-24 Atlanta, GA | said by Nerdtalker:Perhaps one of the best way to combat this for real big public "hotspots" would be to use a captive portal system that somehow requires users to disclose a real identity. This is hard, but would it be possible to say, run a credit card through and charge a paltry 1 cent? Not everyone has a credit or debit card. Besides, doing something like this would probably lead to more identity theft (stealing card numbers on an even larger scale, etc.)
-SC -- said to me: "it seems like all you ever buy is Abercrombie and cell phones"  | |
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 |  | | This aint hacking, I turn on my wireless and it connects to my neighbors all around me. So I use it pushing 2 years now. I set their password so everyone else will stay off. So I am managing their router for them and useing there considerable excess capacity for my own purposes. And all they have to do is push their reset button to put a stop to it and they never do.
Now why do I do this? Because I use p2p and I am tired of price fixing corporations that said CD prices will fall after the technology is paid for and they never did. I am tired of big corps lobying to thro out fair use laws then suiting eveyone into bancrupcy instead of getting real court opinions about fair use. Its David against Goliath and David just got a new weapon. Its called Cantenas and WiFi and now they cant figure out which one of us to suit. Tough tity for them. Anybody that thinks you can be moral and still fight the big guys has rocks for brains.
If you like Itunes and Ipods and song libraries with restrictions and limitations then its yours. When I pluck my money down, its mine to do when ever and where ever I choose. And I won't put up with anything less. Right now p2p is the only way to conveniently get it. And with WiFi, they will never be able to find me. | |
|  |  |  Romney2012Defeat Obama 2012-Chg we can believe inPremium join:2002-03-03 USA kudos:4 | Re: It's amazing.... said by Anomus :
I set their password so everyone else will stay off. So I am managing their router for them and useing there considerable excess capacity for my own purposes. And that is breaking the law in the US. Get caught and you can go to jail. As soon as you took that 1 step you can no longer claim you didn't hack their system. -- -- My BLOG My Web Page | |
|  |  |  |  | | Re: It's amazing.... I cant get caught. Period. To gain access someone has to push the reset button. Then everything I did absolutely vanishes. Period. End of story. No jail, No arrest, No proof, No lawsuit. Join the invinsible army and help put an end to big corp price fixing monopoly. Dont be a naysayer, be a participator. | |
|  |  |  |  |  NormanSPremium,MVM join:2001-02-14 San Jose, CA kudos:4 Reviews:
·SONIC.NET
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| Re: It's amazing.... You probably won't get caught as long as you are a parasite on some poor, clueless user's W-LAN. But if he gets suspicious, and has friends who know a thing, or three, all bets are off. Even I could catch you if the owner did not press that reset button; and I am not the smartest network guru in the world. -- Norman ~Oh Lord, why have you come ~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  | | Re: It's amazing.... When you load DD-Wrt firware in your linky router, you dont even show up in their network neighborhood when you connect. The only sign something is happening is the flickering of the traffic LED on their router and after a bit of unplug and reconnect, the owner gets used to it always flickering and thats the end of that. And I monitor the logs and see its the neighbors kids that do most of the surfing. The grown ups dont do much on the internet to even suspect I am connected. Its like a perfect symbiosis. Theres more bandwidth than any 3 or 4 people can use and only once did the cable company shut of a connection due to long term badwidth hogging due to my p2p. These people then learned about security, reset their router and turned on the WPA probably educated by the cable company. But so far its the exception and not the rule or all of my neighbors would have dropped off one by one. Its great and I am glad to be a soldier in the ranks of the p2p movement. The only true anonimity on the internet. | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  NormanSPremium,MVM join:2001-02-14 San Jose, CA kudos:4 Reviews:
·SONIC.NET
·Pacific Bell - SBC
1 edit | Re: It's amazing.... You can still sniff traffic on the wire, Network Neighborhood, or no.
It is parasitism, not symbiosis. And being a "soldier in the ranks of the P2P movement" is a rationalization of improper behavior.
This reminds me of the old range wars. The Internet is no longer an "open range"; and the barbed wire is coming to your Internet connection. Eventually. -- Norman ~Oh Lord, why have you come ~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | | Unfortunately, your still dumb enough to post at here, knowing your IP is captured... any admin who wants can forward that to your local law enforcement to give them the heads up that someone within wifi-range is hijacking wireless users around the community.
Don't forget wifi snooping works both ways... Just as easy to track who is surfing as the access points they use. And you can use signal strength to find out where they are (hint, closer = stronger).
The grown ups dont do much on the internet to even suspect I am connected. Also hints at you likely being a minor, the use of wording implies your a male, most likely between 13-17 years of age. Adults don't use "grown ups", they use "people" or "adults" and refer to kids as just "kids" or more commonly "teens".
Grow up. | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | | Re: It's amazing.... These linkys are awesome. I have signal strength turned down real low to get the best data thru put with the target connection. Must be something to do with lowering noise interference. Anyways, signal strength is so low it will be a hassle to pick me out in the soup of full strength routers all around me. On top of that, cops dont have the time and resourses to do much stinging of child predators online let alone hunting around with an antenna trying to find an internet freeloader. Uuuuuu, and I like the psycho brainiac wannabe down there. Let me know when you apply to your local cops as an internet profiler and I'll send them an official looking recomendation from the US president about your heroic service to your country. People like me just love people like you helping out the cops. And yes the MAC is spoofed and it even looks like another neighbor with his security enabled. Ive Dled over 12TB of stuff in all this time and there is not even a hint of a nationwide crackdown in the works. Its fool proof and with all the chatter, nobody still has a clue. And these nice folks here at DSL really Wuve me so theres no chace they would turn me in. They know its pointless anyway. So be a good souldier and get your DDwrt Linky today. Available at your nearest Ebay stores. | |
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 |  |  |  |  |  81399672Premium join:2006-05-17 Los Angeles, CA kudos:2 | said by NormanS:You probably won't get caught as long as you are a parasite on some poor, clueless user's W-LAN. But if he gets suspicious, and has friends who know a thing, or three, all bets are off. Even I could catch you if the owner did not press that reset button; and I am not the smartest network guru in the world. no he will never get caught,it's to easy to fake your mac address | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  NormanSPremium,MVM join:2001-02-14 San Jose, CA kudos:4 | Re: It's amazing.... Never say never... | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  81399672Premium join:2006-05-17 Los Angeles, CA kudos:2 | Re: It's amazing.... I agree that you can't say never but chances of him getting caught are really small. | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | | Re: It's amazing.... If you want to call this getting caught, here is the only way I could get shut down. I am not doing this for free access. I got plenty of money. Im doing this for 15gigs a day of anonomous p2p so I cant be sued. The ISPs see this BW useage but there is confussion as to what to do about it. Especially when legitamate content DLing is occuring. They shut down one connection I used after 6 months with a big splash screen that said CALL YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE. I about shit and the next day the router was back up with a reset password and security enabled. Clearly the ISP just educated a customer. But it has only happened once and I keep on souldiering. With more people useing things like netflix online now, maybe the ISPs won't be able to stop heavy BW useage anymore. Only time will tell. If your so cheap that all you want is a little free access, they will never be able to stop you and it will always be available somewhere. | |
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 |  |  |  |  |  |  c0de join:2004-10-14 Richmond, VA | It does not matter what the MAC address is, there is still a connection preset. and with a little packet sniffing or some handy wifi detection, you could easily find this guy. I mean, its not like he is miles away... | |
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 |  NY TelPremium join:2004-04-09 Smithtown, NY kudos:3 Reviews:
·AT&T CallVantage
| Well just today I went to a new Internet Cafe' in my home town. It advertises Free Internet access so I went there as opposed to going to a Starbucks. I got online and noticed the speed was not the greatest so I took a look at the "show wireless networks" tab and lo and behold: I was surfing on some neighborhood person's connection. I ultimately found the one from the cafe and connected to it but noticed there were 8 other networks available and none had any security turned on. Go figure... Anyway, the coffee was good and the place is nicer than a Starbucks. | |
|  |  c0de join:2004-10-14 Richmond, VA | I'll be the first to say that it's not just the users/owner of X wireless routing devices fault, it also is the manufacturer. I have never understood why Linksys or the like, don't make the owner setup the device with security upon first use. | |
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 jgkoltPremium join:2004-02-21 Lakewood, OH | linksys the number 1 wireless internet provider out there. -- www.LakeSemaJ.com | |
|  |  fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium join:2005-05-20 kudos:3 | Re: linksys Very original. | |
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 | | CALEA CALEA already requires the carrier to be able to provide CII when requested by the FED.
Carriers who provided brodband or VoIP service have until tomorrow to file forms 445 and 447 stating their level of compliance *AND* until May 12 to actually *BE* compliant.
How all that impacts the unsecured access point eludes me. They are everywhere. | |
|  |  Mike_27Premium join:2004-05-15 Gardiner, MT 1 edit | Re: CALEA said by AnonDOG :
Carriers who provided brodband or VoIP service have until tomorrow to file forms 445 and 447 stating their level of compliance *AND* until May 12 to actually *BE* compliant. isn't it form 477? due on 3/1 and 7/1 of each year? »www.fcc.gov/broadband/data.html
said by AnonDOG :
How all that impacts the unsecured access point eludes me. They are everywhere. since people operating open access points are actually a facilities based telecommunicaton carrier, in theory they are required to submit these forms and become CALEA compliant by the deadline.
I imagine the first warrant issued against an unsecured access point will be the test ....
Mike | |
|  |  |  | | Re: CALEA Aye Mike, sorry. 477 is due twice a year. 445 is due tomorrow.
Indeed the first warrant issued against an unsecured AP will be the test. I think though that what will happen in such cases is the home owner will receive a search warrant instead.
When the FED finds nothing (after tossing the home) the end user will figure out that they should secure their AP. | |
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 | | Too true This isn't really news, we all knew this was happening for some time. Sadly nobody really cares.
I'd question what liability the owner of the wifi device has. Since it's left open, your a by default operating a free ISP. Just because you don't charge, doesn't change the nature of the transaction.
I don't see why WiFi routers don't ship with a default randomly assigned WPA Key and SSID. Just include an insert in the packaging (inside so you have to open to see it) with the key and SSID. The only extra step for the consumer would be connecting to the said SSID and entering the WPA key. Even if they did nothing else, since it's random it would be more complicated to hack.
That solution would rid 90% of this problem, with really no major changes. While true security guru's would know MAC filtering, and changing your WPA pass often is a good idea... even the most novice users would get some level of protection.
Most people don't even know they support identity theft and child molesters.
On a sidenote...
How many of these RIAA cases are really based around this problem? Yea, you know it's a lot. Unsuspecting people just get stuck in the middle.
It's all fixable. That's the good thing.... the sad thing is it would take a miracle for the fix to be in place. | |
|  |  calvoiper join:2003-03-31 Belvedere Tiburon, CA | Re: Too true said by raccettura:... I don't see why WiFi routers don't ship with a default randomly assigned WPA Key and SSID. Just include an insert in the packaging (inside so you have to open to see it) with the key and SSID. The only extra step for the consumer would be connecting to the said SSID and entering the WPA key. ... That one extra step is EXACTLY why they don't do it. With the low level of technical skill of most Americans today, shipping "plug and play" devices is what sells--and the first company which requires an extra step, as opposed to advising one, loses business to the "easy" competitor.
Why are Americans so technically dumb? Because our schools teach "cultural" concepts instead of math & science.
calvoiper -- VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! | |
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 | | I never see them around where I live Where I live now, in collegetown next to a major university, there are no open networks, not even 1.
At the last 2 places I used to live in, again, there were no open networks.
Maybe I just live where people are a little smarter than your average jane/joe...
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|  |  | | Not to Catch Regular Crooks or Perverts I know I am going to get blasted as a liberal, but everytime the police are given more powers they abuse it and then wrap themselves up in the flag or 911. When the Patriot Act was passed, they spoke of needing the special powers to go after terrorists and poo-pooed (spo?) those who said that they would use the powers for other things. Two years later, then Attorney General John Aschcroft said that drug dealers were terrorists and that they would be negligent if they hadn't used the powers to go after them.
In the 1950s and 1960s, government maintained all these illegal files on law abiding citizens whom the government thought had subversive tendencies. When you know what hit the fan, a number of settlements were signed we were told this wouldn't happen. Who out there seriously thinks it isn't right now? Look at how the Government is trying to through its blanket of immunity over ATT and Verizon who may well have permitted the wholesale warrantless eavsdropping on their clients.
Seperation of government functions as meant for a reason and making too easy for government to snoop on us, means that they will snoop on us for purposes beyond those which they state. If the public library has to maintain a roster of who registers online, what about the student who visits politically unpopular sites. We should have the right to read these viewpoints and our first amendment rights should not be chilled in this fashion.
The late Justice Felix Frankfurter in a case called Screws v United States reminded us that we should not presume the good faith of the police or law enforcement. Evil people get power and misuse it. Think back to the Red Scars of the 1950s and the number of lives that were ruined by the FBI and McCarthy.
If we are going to take extrordinary measures to seek out members of terrorists cells, that is one thing, but when I see this power used to go after garden variety crimes, no way. | |
|  |  calvoiper join:2003-03-31 Belvedere Tiburon, CA | Why the Post ran this story.... While I'm not as liberal as stufried, there are many excellent points in his post.
What's interesting here is that the Washington Post, a "liberal" newspaper, is the one "stirring the pot" over this anonymity. The motive isn't true "liberalism", it's maintaining the power base of the nation's current "liberal elite"--a group that used to be defined by those regular dinner guests of Katherine Graham, Publisher of the Post before she died. (The current publisher is her son.)
This story is typical of the mainline press lashing out against the Internet. Having seen their obscene profits from advertising, particularly classified advertising, disappear because of better and cheaper Internet competition, the press attacks in any way possible.
Stories like this remind me of reading how stable owners tried to scare people into outlawing automobiles, screaming that "they scare horses and kill people!"
What's at the heart of the press's motive is not just the money, but what traditional journalists consider their God-given right to "filter" and "shape" the news--a power base that is shifting from the press to the Internet, and also from the powerful few to the Internet-empowered many. The Post's classified readership has shifted to craigslist and the like, and Telephony's readership has shifted to BBR. At least Telephony has the good grace not to attack the Internet gratuitously.
calvoiper -- VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! | |
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 NyQuil Kid8f The Nyquil Kid join:2001-01-06 Brick, NJ | Routers and the signals are often insecure... Related to an insecure AP is that most people don't change the router logon/password (some routers force this via a setup wizard, but not all). So if someone is piggybacking on a signal and knows what they are doing, they can clear the log files that might trace a particular MAC.
[8F] The NyQuil Kid -- [8F] The NyQuil Kid comes into town not looking for trouble...n00bz gang up, but he ain't seein' double,...pulls and draws, his deagles two...n00bz litter the ground you know it's true. | |
|  NOCManMacChatterPremium join:2004-09-30 Colorado Springs, CO | It's no difference than Using a public pay phone to commit a crime.
I do not see a public outcry against crimes committed via public phones so I do not see why we need to start here with public networks.
Your kids will be safe if you tell them how to be safe. School is not going to do it for you! IT'S YOUR JOB.
I think I heard the other day that a child is more likely to be hit by a car and killed than being abducted by a sex offender. I do not see anyone trying to ban cars from the roads either.
People make the mistake of letting the news drive fear into their hearts when the actual risk of this problem is minimal and for that matter many other problems as well.
Get to know your neighbors and your neighborhood, talk to your kids and show them how to handle situations and things will be fine. -- Ubuntu Tips »www.ubuntutips.org | |
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