From the UK comes news that more than half of PC users have knowingly used someone else's Internet connection, without the owner's permission.
That's not at all surprising. Indeed, the actual number of Internet service thieves may be even higher.
That's because wireless or "wi-fi" Internet connections make stealing someone else's connection easy. Indeed, from where I'm typing, right now, I have access to four unprotected Internet connections via the wi-fi card on my laptop.
I suspect that these individuals are my neighbors, or perhaps a business down the street, although I'm not sure. What I am sure of, though, is that these unprotected connections pose an immense security risk.
If someone hijacks your wi-fi connection and then uses it for any illegal purpose—to download child pornography, for instance—this can be traced back to your PC. This activity, if detected by police, can provide sufficient probable cause for your arrest and possible prosecution. You might be able to prove that you're innocent if it turns out that your PC doesn't contain any child porn, you might get off with a warning to beef up your Internet security.
However, as I described in a previous blog entry, it's relatively easy for a child porn aficionado to plant a few select images on your PC to throw police off the trail. If he succeeds in doing so, it will be your job to persuade the police that you're innocent.
The problem, in a nutshell, is that virtually all PCs—especially laptops—now come equipped with a wi-fi card. However, many wi-fi connections aren't encrypted, giving other users the ability to use your connection for whatever purpose they wish.
Here's what you need to do to prevent outsiders from using your wireless connection and potentially engaging or illegal conduct online or monitoring your online activities:
- Change the name of your network (the Service Set Identifier or SSID) from its default name to a name you assign.
- Set up some form of encryption—the most common forms are called WEP and WPA. WEP isn't as strong as WPA but is better than nothing and will deter most eavesdroppers.
- Turn off SSID broadcast. This feature is useful in wireless hot spots, such as a coffee shop or airport, but not in a home or office environment.
- Avoid unsecured wireless networks. At coffee shops, Internet cafes, airports, etc., it's often easy to tap into a wireless network. But many public access points aren't secure, and the traffic they carry isn't encrypted. Malicious users can use "sniffing" tools to obtain sensitive information such as passwords, bank account numbers, and credit card numbers in such locations. Protect yourself by subscribing to a virtual private networking (VPN) service through your Internet Service Provider or an outside vendor. VPNs encrypt connections at the sending and receiving ends, and keep out traffic that's not encrypted. If a VPN is available to you, log onto it whenever you use a public wireless access point.
These precautions should deter nearly all unauthorized access to your wi-fi connection. But just to make sure, keep your anti-virus and firewall software up-to-date, and regularly "sweep" your PC for viruses and other "malware" that might have surreptitiously planted illegal images or other unwanted material on your hard disk.
Copyright © 2007 by Mark Nestmann
