gregorygarver.com

[karenmartinsville]

I have managed to find a signal from an unsecured Wireless Network connection in my area. I've been surfing through this network for a while now, including emailing, chatting etc, could this information be read by the user who setted it up? Is this theft or would it be their responsibility to secure it? An elder will be setting up a Wireless Network connection in my home soon, I believe he'll have control over the internet. Would he be able to view my information eg. the content of my emails, the websites I've visited, chat conversations etc since we are sharing the same Wireless Network connection (despite having my own computer)?? If my privacy is in threat, what can I do to protect my information from being read by other users???*For those who had set up wireless internet in their own home and share this with other users (having own PCs).*UK residents only.

[arsenef]

someone in the UK went to prison for doing what is said in your first statement. Tread lightly, a packet sniffer would show all of your activitiesI dont agree with this idea pertaining to wireless, but the court ruled they are not obligated to secure their wireless. Just because your front door is open it does not mean I am welcome to come in.

[Dragonheart]

Don;t know if it is theft if you use someone else's network - I agree that they have responsibility for securing it. I dont think they will be able to see what you've been doing We have a wireless network in our house (secured by password) and I've tried networking the computers - you have to have the your files you want to share in a Shared Files folder on the computer. As far as I am aware, your privicy is not under threat, but I'm not an expert, and also i've not tried to see what other users are up to. I trust them.

[D-Rock]

I'm not a UK resident, but I can still answer your question: network protocols are the same worldwide.Depending on the configuration of the network, it may be possible for the network administrator to keep an eye on network traffic. Most home users probably wouldn't bother, though. And he'll probably only be able to see what IP addresses you communicated with, and maybe what Web pages you requested. Chat contents would probably be harder to trace. However, there is a Klingon proverb that applies here: "if you do not wish a thing heard, then do not say it" -- to anyone, anywhere. I know it's hard, but that's life.As to the question of whether this is theft: I don't know the laws in the UK, but I tend to think not. In my opinion, it is so easy to secure a home wireless network that anyone who chooses not to do so has to be assumed to be OK with others using his network. However, when I use someone else's wireless network, I believe I am responsible for not doing anything from their network that could likely get them into trouble. That would be wrong, I think.

[REALTOR7177]

You shouldn't be using someone elses wireless connection one reason being it may be a limited download connection, you could have been getting him download charges so if he gets his isp to lokk into it then yes they will know someone else has been using it.If you have have your own network then so long as you use your own login/e-mail etc that are password protected then no-one will be able to look at what your doing.

[countryboy]

Using wireless network is not normally secured. It is easily to hack. Even a normal Internet can be hacked. That is why most sites advise users not to send credit card information using e-mail. There are a lot of free softwares that anyone can be used to hack. So, if you think you are secure using any type of Internet, then think again.

[pebblespro]

Yes, no and maybe. It depends on how technically competent your neighbour is in offering an unsecured wireless access point. For most people, I would guess that they just hadn't the technical skill to configure it correctly and so left it wide open - without understanding what the implications of that are (you may be using it wisely, but others may well abuse such an open connection). It sort of follows that if the user leaves a wireless access point open, the rest of their computing setup is too.Which leaves other options - either it is a mistake by a savvy user, or that access point there is acting as a "honeypot" to tempt people to use the access point and thus intercept their web traffic. Ultimately you are using an untrusted third party to access the web - which whilst free may compromise the information you send across it. Depending on how long you have been using the connection, and if you haven't noticed anything untoward it may consider the risk to be low.As for being able to tell what you have been up to, if they are technically savvy they will be able to do this. Similarly, depending on how that access point is connected to the web, there is probably some sort of firewall inbuilt that logs activity (my wireless router/modem maintains a list of visited sites, times, computer used, etc).Whether you using his connection is theft is a little moot - I doubt he will bother to take action against you for using his services, and as you say having an unsecured point whould be a good defence.If you want total security, you will need to have your own personal internet connection that is unshared (remember that your ISP will record which sites and other information about you anyway!). It all comes down to how much you trust the owner of the internet connection, and what use of the information that may collect about you is important to secure.

[fredsanford]

yes. it's also illegal. would you like someone stealing from you?