WiFi Network Poaching

Ok, here’s the scenario. You have your laptop at a coffee shop, someone’s office, or a friend’s house. You turn it on and it detects a wireless Internet router. All you have to do is click connect and you get free Internet, right? Is that legal? Well, that’s hard to say. The closest law in the US that might cover it is “unauthorized access” or “trespassing”.

Most officials feel that the responsibility to lock up a wireless access point lies with the owner. Many people, however, don’t know or don’t know how to turn on their wireless access point’s security, and so any of their neighbors or even people driving by could access their network.

And that’s the rub. If you connect to someone else’s wireless Internet, you are, in effect accessing their network. So, while the law may be vague, the ethics are pretty clear.

Questions you need to ask yourself…

• Can others access YOUR wireless network?
• Have you set up WiFi security?
• Is your WiFi security working?
• Or can any hacker sit outside your business with a laptop and access your files?

If you have any questions about securing your wireless network give us a call.