If people are so lazy or stupid that they leave their wireless connections unsecured they deserve to have bootleggers and freeloaders soaking up their bandwidth.
It's not illegal for you to access their wireless connections because they are broadcasting their signal over the air and the airwaves in the USA are free (for the most part).
There are NO state or federal laws as of yet that SPECIFICALLY prohibit people like you from accessing unsecured wireless access points as long as you don't do anything malicious while freeloading.
@jvx333 wrote:
So i received my pc about a week or 2 ago,,and when i got it i installed my wireless card ,but my router was not hooked up yet it was also in the box, any ways, so i turned my pc on and installed the driver for the wireless card and when im done im picking up a wireless signal from somewhere else ,not one but 3 diffrent signals, so is it illegal to use someone elses signal or not,,
As of now, it's legal (despite what others may say). Some states are attempting to make it illegal.
It IS wrong to freeload though, and there's no guarantee that what looks like an "open" network is a honeypot or a prank (see http://www.ex-parrot.com/~pete/upside-down-ternet.html )
despite all the other posters, it's generally considered illegal though the laws may vary by state.
according to some very good posts in the netstumbler forum (where this discussion happens all the time) it seems that current case law would suggest this is illegal.
it is generally illegal to connect with or use another network without that network's owner's permission.
if it is a cable or dsl (phone) connection then theft of utility laws also apply.
Just because they haven't enabled a security feature (the default state is unsecured) does not mean that they are inviting you to steal their bandwidth.
Furthermore, in XP SP1 and later, connecting to an unsecured network does not happen automatically -- you have to tell windows to initiate this connection.
Lastly, even though you are unlikely to get caught (idiot in FL in front of a house with laptop in parked SUV being the exception) it's still not great to steal things. If you think the neighbor would be ok with it, then ask them.
i was just asking! i have my own internet at my house im not using his, it was just something that i discovered and had to ask the question,, but i guess ill have to lock mine. can someone help me on this
if you tampered with their data i bet u could get done for hacking or something similar.... also don't be a cheap ... and leech of someones bandwidth even if they don't have security it is not a free ticket to use it....
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as long as we're on the subject it's also not a super smart idea from a security perspective. while the risks are likely beyond low, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that someone has set up a free AP to bait you into using it. if they're in a large apparenment, they can be fairly sure that you'll not locate them directly.
meanwhile as you connect they are sniffing/recording/redirecting (and well you get the idea) everything you send through them. it'd be very hard for you to tell a spoof from the real site if they wanted to be creative.
whitehat778
1 Rookie
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11 Posts
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August 8th, 2006 14:00
Message Edited by whitehat778 on 08-08-200610:39 AM
try2help
132 Posts
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August 8th, 2006 14:00
If people are so lazy or stupid that they leave their wireless connections unsecured they deserve to have bootleggers and freeloaders soaking up their bandwidth.
It's not illegal for you to access their wireless connections because they are broadcasting their signal over the air and the airwaves in the USA are free (for the most part).
There are NO state or federal laws as of yet that SPECIFICALLY prohibit people like you from accessing unsecured wireless access points as long as you don't do anything malicious while freeloading.
Entropy42
529 Posts
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August 8th, 2006 15:00
As of now, it's legal (despite what others may say). Some states are attempting to make it illegal.
It IS wrong to freeload though, and there's no guarantee that what looks like an "open" network is a honeypot or a prank (see http://www.ex-parrot.com/~pete/upside-down-ternet.html )
NemesisDB
2 Intern
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7.9K Posts
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August 8th, 2006 17:00
according to some very good posts in the netstumbler forum (where this discussion happens all the time) it seems that current case law would suggest this is illegal.
it is generally illegal to connect with or use another network without that network's owner's permission.
if it is a cable or dsl (phone) connection then theft of utility laws also apply.
Just because they haven't enabled a security feature (the default state is unsecured) does not mean that they are inviting you to steal their bandwidth.
Furthermore, in XP SP1 and later, connecting to an unsecured network does not happen automatically -- you have to tell windows to initiate this connection.
Lastly, even though you are unlikely to get caught (idiot in FL in front of a house with laptop in parked SUV being the exception) it's still not great to steal things. If you think the neighbor would be ok with it, then ask them.
Message Edited by NemesisDB on 08-08-200602:07 PM
jvx333
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August 8th, 2006 18:00
klbf
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2.7K Posts
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August 8th, 2006 23:00
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NemesisDB
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August 9th, 2006 01:00
as long as we're on the subject it's also not a super smart idea from a security perspective. while the risks are likely beyond low, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that someone has set up a free AP to bait you into using it. if they're in a large apparenment, they can be fairly sure that you'll not locate them directly.
meanwhile as you connect they are sniffing/recording/redirecting (and well you get the idea) everything you send through them. it'd be very hard for you to tell a spoof from the real site if they wanted to be creative.
rwm32
557 Posts
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August 9th, 2006 09:00
Here's a link to an article on WPA2 security, which is the latest & best:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/expert/bowman_wirelesssecurity.mspx
In addition, your router documentation should have basic instructions on securing your wireless network.