The ethics of "stealing" a WiFi connection

Ars Technica ^ | January 03, 2008 | By Eric Bangeman

[mamelukesabre]

I know about the magnetron.

You mentioned that the tricky part was getting power inside the cage without creating a leak in your cage. So I was curious how a microwave gets power inside the cage without creating a leak for microwaves to get out.

[Myrddin]

The outside of the magnetron cavity is solid, conducting metal. The The magnetron is bolted to the side of the cooking cavity with the antenna protruding through a hole in the side. That puts the magnetron tube and resonant cavity inside the cooking cavity of the Faraday cage without compromising the Faraday cage.

When you have people and computers inside a large Faraday cage, it requires care to maintain the integrity of the cage with a working door and proper decoupling of all power cables entering the cage.

[Blue Highway]

I never quite understood why the WEP was claimed as easy to break. It still has a password. Please explain.

[Blue Highway]

The one setup that I could ID - I mentioned to the guy. HE said 'Pah' and waved his hand. Wonder if he'd do the same thing if I presented him with copies of his tax returns, CC numbers, bank PINs, etc. I haven't hacked his system because I figure that it's none of my business. Doubt that others think the same way.

You wouldn't be able to hack into his computer just by leeching his internet connection. Are you talking about special equipment and software or just by him having an open unsecured network?

[Blue Highway]

Now, a friend of a friend set up a trap on his wireless network so that any unauthorized nodes would be commandeered, their hard drives wiped, and Linux installed.

You hear stories like this from time to time, but I have to say it sounds more like fiction. How does one issue commands from a router to format someone elses hard drive and install Linux?

[steve86]

It is not "easy" in the sense of no effort or expertise needed at all, but it is easy in that you can download software with the functionality and once you have your attack machine(s) configured, you can expect to break WEP in 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the approach.

There a several ways to go about it: both passive and active strategies. The passive attacks are basically dictionary matches. The active approaches flood the target machine with packets and do statistic analysis. The most sophisticated attacks (that I know about) use packet injection and only work with certain cards. PI does not require the attack machine to associate to the access point being attacked.

You can watch videos on Youtube where they do all of these things.

[BJungNan]

So it is "free use for customers inside the building"? What about the patio? But the curb is off limits?

He should have bought a cup of coffee. He should have said he thought it was his network from home that he was accessing (play dumb. OK, really dumb).

[Zeon Cowboy]

I used to “steal” my neighbor’s wireless internet for years, until I got my own wireless network set up last month. Unlike my neighbor, I secured mine with a passcode. However, his/her internet is much faster (I have DSL from SBC, and I’m pretty sure he/she has cable from Cox), so I might still use it from time to time for downloads.

If you don’t secure it, and leave your network open, it’s your own stupid fault if someone takes up all your bandwidth.

[BJungNan]

All anyone or bsuness has to do is password protect the access point. Those providing access as a come on can chnage the password daily and have it printed on the reciept. It ain’t hard.

It is amazing the businesses that run open wifi. Not that I would ever tap into the real estate office, the hair salon, the picture frame store or the coffee shop.

Of course, you are correct. All they have to do is password protect it and you can not get in.

[BJungNan]

That password had better be encrypted, or else it would be totally useless. At home I use WPA/PSK and it seems pretty solid. The older 128 bit WEP is a joke because the key can be broken in a matter of minutes, especially using the wireless 'G' standard that has higher throughput.

Your saying the following password could be cracked in minutes? Fr$$R$pupl1c10

Or is the password usesless?

[steve86]

It is amazing the businesses that run open wifi. Not that I would ever tap into the real estate office, the hair salon, the picture frame store or the coffee shop. Of course, you are correct. All they have to do is password protect it and you can not get in.

Not for a few minutes, anyway, about the time it takes to get a quick shave and haircut (talking about male clientele, here).

[steve86]

statistic=statistical

[County Agent Hank Kimball]

ZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTT. FAULTY ANALOGY ALERT!!!!

If you piggyback on someone’s cellphone, you deprive them of talk minutes.

If you piggyback off a Starbucks Wi-Fi connection, you have deprived them of nothing.

Hank

[Blue Highway]

Your saying the following password could be cracked in minutes? Fr$$R$pupl1c10 Or is the password usesless?

I have no expertise in cracking but it looks like it would be rock solid to me, even if that were an WEP passcode.

[July 4th]

How can you steal what someone has given to you through their ineptitude?

[steve86]

Your saying the following password could be cracked in minutes? Fr$$R$pupl1c10

That password is of no defense against statistical attacks.

[Blue Highway]

What is a statistical attack? Bottomline, why would they spend all that time cracking your WEP or WPA just to borrow your wireless internet access?

[Wil H]

If you piggyback off a Starbucks Wi-Fi connection, you have deprived them of nothing.

Yes you do, you deprive them of bandwidth (a finite resource), you deprive them of an IP address that could be used by a paying customer (a finite resource), and you deprive them of revenue since they sell their connection on a subscription basis.

If I am a subscriber and go to Starbucks to use their WiFi service and the particular location can support, say, twenty concurrent users, but when I get there I can't even log on because all the available connections have been stolen by non-subscribers that have hacked the system. How is that different from having my cell phone service stolen from me?

There is no difference between stealing cell phone minutes and stealing WiFi bandwidth except in the case of the cell phone you are stealing the entire bandwidth for the period that you use it rather than just a portion of it as is the case with WiFi, but in both cases it is stealing.

[RobRoy]

It’s a good way to download free music from Kazaalite and Limewire, etc.

[Natural Law]

I'm not advocating breaking any laws, but the following link is pretty good:

http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html