Illinois Man Fined For Piggybacking On Wi-Fi Service

[Astrad]

"David M. Kauchak, 32, pleaded guilty this week in Winnebago County to remotely accessing someone else's computer system without permission, the Rockford Register Star newspaper reported."

<snip>

"A police officer arrested Kauchak in January after spotting him sitting in a parked car with a computer. A chat with the suspect led to the arrest, Wartowski said."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20060325/tc_cmp/183702832

________________

And in other news a man was fined today for watching a drive-in movie from outside the drive-in.

[shain from kane]

1. I didn't usually watch the movie at the drive-in, but what I did there

could have got me arrested. But I always bought two tickets.

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. I don't understand why people just don't secure their wireless

systems with a password.

[Orsino]

6. Because password protection isn't enabled by default. n/t

[Richard D]

3. Wow.

Just wow.

[Merlot]

4. phew! I feel safer now!

Let's get these criminals off the street! Build more prisions! Build more prisions!

[crikkett]

5. accessing a computer isn't piggybacking on Wi-Fi

there's a difference, and accessing another guy's computer is wrong.

[PA Democrat]

9. The article itself seems to use the 2 terms interchangeably

I agree that they are 2 different things, but doesn't it seem that the author of the article is confused? It sounds like the guy was using the guys wireless network, not hacking into his computer itself.

[MrPrax]

7. This is a law...

My router is open...so am I to assume that anyone that accesses it, is breaking law...?

I'll assume somewhere in the boilerplate is some clause that the internet access doesn't really belong to me, but belongs other downstream users like the cable company.

[PA Democrat]

8. Two of my neighbors have unsecured wireless networks

Once, after a bad thunderstorm, I realized that my modem and router were messed up and had to be reset. I was confused because I had just come from my son's room and he had showed me something on the web. I checked it out and found that his computer had automatically searched for a wireless network and had found one of the neighbors' unsecured networks when ours was unavailable. How could it be his fault if my neighbors are so negligent about security?

[lowreed]

10. Share your wifi access with others or find somone willing to share w/ you.

"If you've got WiFi and are willing to share it - or you can can 'see' someone else's WiFi and would like to use it - you're in the right place."

http://www.sharemywifi.com/

[Toucano]

11. Does the person who owns the network have to complain or file charges?

If a neighbor's sprinkler is putting water on my lawn, can they charge me?

[VegasWolf]

12. This guy got off easy!!! He was DRIVING around in a CAR searching

for some IDIOT's unsecured router.

Amazing how many people still have their ssid's set to either "linksys", "default", or "NETGEAR" for Linksys, D-Link, and Netgear routers.

Given that they are too lazy to even modify their ssid, you know that their default IP address is usually “192.168.1.1” or “192.168.0.1”. The web site phonoelite carries all of the default administrator passwords.

Now the rogue client attaches to the IDIOT's unsecured router, is added to the router's access control list, gains admin privileges, and updates the router's bios and then steals all the information he wants to. This is know as the "man in the middle" hacker approach. HowTo's for this hack are everywhere on the web.

Hackers claim this is the golden age because all these people have very sophisticated equipment and leave their doors unlocked. Only an IDIOT runs with an unsecured router.

Even secured routers can be hacked, but why bother, with so many IDIOTs in the world.