Tracy R Reed wrote:
Robert Donovan wrote:
Up to the moment you ar aware that your laptop has connected you are
not in a bad situation. The point you become aware of the connection
and choose to exploit the situation by remaining connected, it is on
you. I don't know how your laptop is set up, but I have to choose to
conect to any wireless network I detect. It doesn't happen
automatically. Being aware of an open signal is not the same as
choosing to make use of that signal.
But I'm just an ignorant user who doesn't know anything about wireless
technology. I open my laptop, and it works. But I am violating your
wishes. One of us has to get educated. As you are the operator of the
hypothetical access point and making demands that I not use it I suggest
it be you.
To put it another way, and back up Tracy. It's easier and easier to get
connected to a wireless network. Users in general are ignorant, and on
top of that, they don't want to have to think about anything. They want
the computer to do it all for them. OS and application providers are
more than happy to oblige (ala Windoze and some newer versions of Linux).
I am Joe Dumb User. I turn on my computer and it connects to the
Interweb via Bob's AP. Great, I'm online. It's not up to me to figure
out that it's connected to Bob's AP and Bob does not want me using it.
Hell, I don't even know what an AP is, who Bob is, where Bob is, what
Wifi is, how all this Interweb stuff works, or even much beyond turning
on my computer, using e-mail, and logging in to MySpace. I just know my
computer, somehow, gets connected to my mail system and the Interweb.
Bob is the one that fsck'd up, not me. He is the one that had enough
knowledge to install an AP. Apparently he does not have enough knowledge
to lock it down. Not my fault, his. Not my fault my computer connected
to it, his. He has the burden to make sure it's secure, just as I have
the burden of making sure my stuff is secure (whether tangible or
intangible property). No one will do it for me, unless I ask them to.
Being Joe Dumb User, I'm probably not smart enough to know it should be
secured, but that's my fault for getting into something before I know
anything about it.
To take it a step further, with all the talk in many circles regarding
securing your wireless, chances are the open AP is meant to be open. In
an area where there are multiple or several open APs, it's not my burden
to figure out which one is which. When I was going to school there were
several open APs. A couple were the schools, a couple were adjoining
businesses. We could not tell which was which so we connected to the
most accessible one(s). Was it our burden to figure out which one was
which? No. It was the burden of the AP owners to set them up properly,
especially knowing full well there were several in the area (if I can
see them, they certainly can). Eventually all of them were configured
properly.
If you (you being Bob) set up an AP, leave it wide open, and don't want
anyone else to use it, well it's your fault when they do. It's not my
job (or anyone else's) to spoon feed you the information you need to do
it right, especially if I have to jump through hoops to figure out where
you are (is this AP in my neighbor's house, the Starbucks across the
street, that business over there, ...?). It's your job to do some
reading (gee, the AP manual might be a good start), figure out what
you're doing, get educated, and then set the thing up. Sorry, I forgot,
people don't read manuals anymore, especially the likes of Bob and Joe
Dumb User.
So, has this round and round argument about stealing or not stealing
Wifi gone on long enough yet?
PGA
--
Paul G. Allen, BSIT/SE
Owner, Sr. Engineer
Random Logic Consulting Services
www.randomlogic.com
--
[email protected]
http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
