Digital Technology for Digital Living.
May 30, 2005
Stealing Broadband.
The Australian IT section has a tiny little article, Broadband vanishes into thin-air, that yet again talks about the insecurity of Wi-Fi.
John Leung, of Glen Waverley in Melbourne, said he had noticed a big spike in the amount of data being downloaded on his broadband internet account.
“The downloads were during working hours when I am not at home and the computer is switched off,” he said. “I suspect it’s probably a neighbour but (I’ve got) no idea who can it be.”
Mr Leung said the wireless link was not secured at first “as I thought the possibility of someone leeching off me was pretty low, but I guess it wasn’t”. Luckily, the downloads did run up a big bill, falling short of the account’s monthly limit.
Gadget Lounge knows someone who had a similar experience. They weren’t so lucky and it cost them several hundred bucks.
Last year we pointed to a similar but more interesting article. We suggested that everyone using wireless might want to take some precautions.
So, don’t use the default or a generic password for your Wireless Router. Even better, a few extra simple measures include adding a WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) key, or with newer routers the WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) key, and turn off the SSID (Service Set Identifier), which isn’t possible on all routers (like an older Apple Airport Base-station). If you feel the need, go that extra mile and only allow the MAC Address of the computers you intend to use. Alternatively, leave the network wide open and score major Whuffie!
Gadgetman | | Broadband, Wireless
July 23rd, 2005 at 1:05 pm
Just wait for the first dumbass user to be dragged to court for googling kiddie porn and then they will learn…