On Mon, July 19, 2010 09:09, m.roth@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> Jay Leafey wrote:
>> As far as the security of my home network goes, I get a giggle every
>> time I scan for wireless networks at home. Mine is the ONLY network
>> that I can reach that is encrypted.
>
> Please - I've enabled WPA, whatever I can, on my ladyfriend's FIOS, and my
> own DSL, and push everyone else. It boggles my mind when I look for
> wireless networks in a residential neighborhood, and see so many that are
> just *open*.
On the other hand, Bruce Schneier does not really agree with you
<http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/01/my_open_wireles.html>.
There are two issues I see with wireless network security.
One is that people could use it to compromise your data. I think this is
an inappropriate worry. What you should do is configure your systems so
that they don't depend on the security of the network they're attached to.
This is especially important for laptops -- if you ever take them away
from home and connect to other networks, you *must* secure the *system*,
not the network. (Bruce spends huge amounts of time away from home, so
this is perhaps more obvious to him than to most people.)
The other is somebody using it to do something that draws unwanted
attention (and possibly is criminal), but not *directly* harmful to you.
This could indeed cause you annoyance; on the other hand, it's not very
likely. And they could do the same by hacking into a supposedly secured
system (probably) or otherwise compromising one of your computers. One of
the biggest risks is probably an RIAA suit; how many people have they sued
(it was 26,000 in 2008 when Bruce's article was written)? But that's
26,000 out of, it is widely believed, hundreds of millions of downloaders;
not very high odds of being hit. AND you could still deploy the "some
other dude done it" defense.
It's certainly very handy to have access to wireless when I visit friends,
go to parties, and so forth. I have an unsecured network of my own at
home that I turn on for parties (fairly small bandwidth).
--
David Dyer-Bennet, dd-b@xxxxxxxx; http://dd-b.net/
Snapshots: http://dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/data/
Photos: http://dd-b.net/photography/gallery/
Dragaera: http://dragaera.info
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