Unsecured wireless network

[+ friendofsheila]

I've just discovered that we have an unsecured wireless network that I can get onto in my apartment. This is the first time I've gotten to watch Youtube or TV broadcasts at home! Wheeeee!

 

Well, maybe not. So far, I've not signed on to any email accounts or logged into any boards at all. Nor will I conduct any financial business on it. And I don't have any real data on the computer that has the wireless capability.

 

So am I taking any real risks by going on and doing all sorts of other stuff?

[+ honcho]

I think the news is mixed ...

 

Even *secured* wireless networks (WEP) can be broken and snooped with enough computing horsepower.

 

However, so long as the web site I'm accessing is ussign SSL encryption (i.e. it starts with https:// ), I would be no more concerned about using it over an unsecured wireless network than a secured one.

 

(SSL is much stronger encryption than WEP).

 

So now the question becomes what risks are you exposing yourself to by watching youtube, or TV, or even reading this board on any

wireless network if you are snooped? (I don't think anybody would care and that risk is pretty darned small)

 

The other question is how vulnerable is your computer from outside attack ... do you have any form of file sharing turned on?

Or if you are sharing a printer from a desktop to a laptop, if there were bugs in the printer service, maybe it could be breached?

Do you have remote diagnosis enabled?

 

Lastly there's the ethical issue ... somebody is paying for DSL or cable, doesn't have the experience or knowledge to turn privacy

on, and you're depriving him of a portion of a service he's paying for if you both are watching youtube or TV shows at the

same time.

 

(I'm not being sexist ... I know darn well ``he'' could be a ``she''. I'm being curmudgeonly old fashioned about historical

usage of english when gender is not known and you wish to use singular rather than plural)

 

Even if you figure out whose wireless you're accessing and offer to share the costs, it may breach the terms of service with the

network provider.

[+ friendofsheila]

Well, you bring up a lot of points, and being on a library computer now, I can only answer part of them since my time is limited.

 

My reading online has told me that my impact on their service is limited, particularly since I am no longer watching TV or The YouTubes. Ethically, people have also compared it to my listening to music that floats outside someone's apartment window. (But then, I might have only retained the portion of the discussion that supports my doing what I want.)

 

I do have a firewall in place and security software, and even so I still managed to pick up the stupid ThinkPoint software my first night of internet debauchery! I luckily learned how to deal with that.

 

All that said I'm not getting on it much since the thrill is gone, my ethics are tapping on my shoulder and frankly there's not much on TV I think is worth watching. Besides, it could disappear at any instant, so I don't want to get too attached.

 

Thanks for bringing up good points, Honcho.