RE: Wireless Security

From: David Gillett (gillettdavid_at_fhda.edu)
Date: 10/13/05

  • Next message: Mark Ryan del Moral Talabis: "Re: Security auditing tools" 
    To: <hfebelingjr@lycos.com>, <security-basics@securityfocus.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 09:22:30 -0700

      IANAL, of course, but I *have* been paying attention to issues
    like this.....

    > A) What if any obligation to the neighbors does the person
    > who initially setup the Wi-Fi network have?

      None. If I live on a corner and put up a fence around my lot,
    I have no obligation to compensate the pedestrians who used to
    shorten their journey by cutting across my lawn.

    > B) What happens IF one neighbor goes in and reads/deletes
    > msgs/files from another neighbor's computer is the person who
    > initially setup the Wi-Fi network for their own use liable?

      Possibly. A case could be argued that the unsecured Wi-Fi
    constitutes an Attractive Nuisance, and a court could find civil
    liability on that basis. Not a gamble I'd choose to take.

    > C) Can the person who initially setup the Wi-Fi network
    > legally go in and look around his/her neighbors computers?

      Of course not.

    > D) What if one the neighbors get a virus, is the person
    > who initially setup the Wi-Fi network liable?

      Same as B.

    > E) What if any expectations to privacy do the unauthorized
    > users have?

      PROBABLY none, but they may be able to argue that they were
    not informed of that fact. They might even argue that the
    unsecured state of the Wi-Fi constituted -- for all they knew!
    -- authorization, and that might make even the transmissions
    *through* the Wi-Fi subject to various electronic communications
    privacy legislation.

    Moral: Public Wi-Fi should be implemented deliberately, not
    accidentally, and probably with legal advice up front. By the
    time any of these questions stops being hypothetical, it may
    already be too late.

    David Gillett

    > -----Original Message-----
    > From: Herman Frederick Ebeling, Jr. [mailto:hfebelingjr@lycos.com]
    > Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2005 12:17 PM
    > To: security-basics@securityfocus.com
    > Subject: Wireless Security
    >
    >
    > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
    > Hash: SHA1
    >
    > I've got a question (actually a few) along these lines.
    > Let's say that a person has a Wi-Fi network setup at home.
    > And they find out that some of their neighbors have accessed it.
    >
    > A) What if any obligation to the neighbors does the person
    > who initially setup
    > the Wi-Fi network have?
    > B) What happens IF one neighbor goes in and reads/deletes
    > msgs/files from
    > another neighbor's computer is the person who initially setup
    > the Wi-Fi network for their own use liable?
    > C) Can the person who initially setup the Wi-Fi network
    > legally go in and look
    > around his/her neighbors computers?
    > D) What if one the neighbors get a virus, is the person
    > who initially setup the
    > Wi-Fi network liable?
    > E) What if any expectations to privacy do the unauthorized
    > users have?
    >
    > Herman
    >
    > - -----Original Message-----
    > From: Daryl Davis [mailto:daryl@ultbingo.com]
    > Sent: Tuesday, 04 October, 2005 12:56
    > To: security-basics@securityfocus.com
    > Subject: Wireless blocking
    >
    >
    > I believe I have an unauthorized wireless router on my
    > network. I have been unable to physically find it as of yet.
    >
    > Does anyone know how to find the hidden SSID and then Jam it?
    >
    > Thank you.
    >
    > Daryl R Davis
    > Digital Game Media, Inc.
    >
    > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
    > Version: PGP 8.0.3
    >
    > iQA/AwUBQ01ORx/i52nbE9vTEQJiUgCeOOjX9N6x73SckuWo8IM3fRrF7NoAni3P
    > b8FzLCft8X2qZYK7BYhdx+E3
    > =9dp4
    > -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
    >
    >

  • Next message: Mark Ryan del Moral Talabis: "Re: Security auditing tools"

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