Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
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Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
31-05-2008 9:30 PM
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I was staying with family, and happened to check to see what WiFi networks were being picked up by my MacBook. I discovered a router that I could connect to that allocated me an IP address and let me use the internet. It's name hadn't been changed from the default - the model name of the router. And it's configuration page was also available to me with the default password of "admin". Through this, I found their DHCP list showed at least 7 other computers had been on their network recently. I also found their WAN IP address, which is registered to blueyonder (now part of Virgin Media).
What's the etiquette/responsible thing to do?
If I was going to try and tell them and advise them to secure their router, how would I have found out which house the router was in (given there were several routers in the area with decent signal strength)?
I suppose I could contact Virgin Media. But would they do anything? Or would they even treat me as admitting I'd stolen bandwidth from their customer?
Martin
Re: Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
31-05-2008 9:52 PM
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Re: Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
31-05-2008 10:07 PM
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Re: Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
31-05-2008 10:21 PM
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pd
Re: Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
31-05-2008 10:53 PM
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Quote from: artificer you would be breaking the law.
Really, and which law is that?
Re: Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
31-05-2008 10:57 PM
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Re: Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
31-05-2008 11:06 PM
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Re: Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
31-05-2008 11:19 PM
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/6565079.stm
Re: Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
31-05-2008 11:32 PM
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Source BBC news
Quote The man arrested at the weekend was cautioned for dishonestly obtaining electronic communications services with intent to avoid payment.
So what are they (the police) doing, making this up as they go along?
If I turn my laptop on and it connects to a wireless connection (which it is set up to do) have I done something wrong?
Re: Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
31-05-2008 11:54 PM
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6958429.stm
cp:quote
Re: Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
02-06-2008 12:20 PM
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1. By you as discussed above.
2. The owner of the network is guilty of incitement by dangling an unsecured network in front of you.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler) Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!) Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20) Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month) Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month) |
Re: Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
02-06-2008 12:32 PM
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Re: Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
02-06-2008 12:42 PM
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You may have to make a positive choice NOT to connect to an unsecured network.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler) Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!) Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20) Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month) Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month) |
Re: Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
02-06-2008 1:01 PM
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Re: Letting someone know their WiFi is open and unsecured
02-06-2008 1:14 PM
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If it's someone you know or can see (e.g. just got out of it) you tell them. If not, trying to identify the owner involves taking steps (e.g. rummaging in the glove box or opening the boot) that could be interpreted as illegal so maybe not a good idea.
Not an exact parallel I know (and the risks are different), but I try to take a similar approach re open WiFi. If you encounter an open network and it's pretty obvious whose it is likely to be and easy to warn them then do so. Otherwise the steps you take to really find out whose it is are open to challenge.
There's now only 1 open network near me (called Netgear), but it's relatively weak (not always detectable) so I really don't have a clue where it is.
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