Ethics of “Stealing WiFi”
As laptop users grow in number and the use of wireless routers as means to connect to the internet grows, many computer users and computer professionals are left wondering – at what point does using an open wireless network become illegal or unethical? Ars Technica, in their article about the topic, makes the point that open wireless network transmissions are no different than radio waves.
Using an open WiFi network is no more “stealing” than is listening to the radio or watching TV using the old rabbit ears. If the WiFi waves come to you and can be accessed without hacking, there should be no question that such access is legal and morally OK. (Link)
Other computer professionals believe that by piggybacking on open wireless networks, users are denying revenue to ISPs and clogging their networks with traffic. Yet, with the advent of wireless encryption schemes, owners of wireless networks are able to lock out potential piggybackers on their wireless networks.
Personally, I believe that it is the access point’s owner’s responsibility to lock down and secure their wireless network. Even if the owner doesn’t have the knowledge or time to do so, there are many computer services out there that will come and do it for you for a price. Some routers these days even configure themselves just by the owner clicking “next” a few times. That being said, open wireless networks can be a blessing. Coffee shops, hotels, restaurants all gain customers by having free open wireless. With this openness comes problems.
A coffee shop in Greensboro recently found out the dangers of even wireless network which required customers to pay a small fee. The coffee shop used their wireless network as a way to hook in customers to buy coffee and other goods. What they didn’t anticipate was a spammer paying the mere $1 wireless fee to send millions of spam e-mails. Their ISP detected the spam originating from their network and shut them down. While a hard lesson to learn, it goes to show both companies, individuals, and families that wireless security is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with rather than avoiding it. Wireless encryption usually prevents these types of problems.
Wireless encryption comes in a few common flavors these days. WEP, WPA, and WPA2 are all fairly secure methods of keeping troublesome users off your network. WEP has been proven to be easily hacked by anyone using open-source and free software like Kismet or KisMAC. I’ve even demonstrated on my own WEP network that it can be easily hacked in under an hour. WPA and WPA2 are the most secure encryption settings available to the common consumer at a reasonable price. Their security flaws and holes are much harder to exploit, unlike the easily hacked WEP. My advice to wireless network administrators is to go with WPA2 with PSK. It’s still possible to hack, but nothing is completely secure in the computer world.
Despite all the controversy, open wireless networks are convenient. If you’re on the go, and need to send a quick e-mail or look up some tidbit of information on the web, nothing is better than finding an open wireless network to use to get what you need to do done. While most people think that an open wireless network with a generic company name would be harmless to connect to, it’s possible that a malicious router could be set up to steal your information. Users need to stick to using wireless access points and connections that they know and trust. It’s easy to use applications such as Wireshark to read traffic across open networks. If at all possible, use some form of encryption, preferably WPA or WPA2.
What do you think? Is it unethical to piggyback on an open wireless network you find? Where is the line drawn and why?