Unencrypted Wi-Fi access may seem harmless, but it's an open invitation to hackers We live in a society where polite behavior is on the decline. Just last week, for instance, I was chagrined to discover that my neighbor had enabled encryption on his (or her) wireless network. "How rude!" I muttered to myself, as I selected another neighbor's (unencrypted) account to use until my own cable ISP came back online. I Unencrypted Wi-Fi access may seem harmless, but it’s an open invitation to hackers We live in a society where polite behavior is on the decline. Just last week, for instance, I was chagrined to discover that my neighbor had enabled encryption on his (or her) wireless network. “How rude!” I muttered to myself, as I selected another neighbor’s (unencrypted) account to use until my own cable ISP came back online.I’m not sure exactly which neighbor owns the account that turned on the WEP, so I’m not sure who I should be mad at. But that’s entirely beside the point. My life of crime started three years ago. I had brought home several notebooks from the company where I’m the number two IT guy, and I was configuring their encryption settings when I noticed that they were already connected to an IP address. It wasn’t one of mine; all my wireless networks require known MAC addresses and passwords before they allow access. It was definitely somebody else’s network. And totally unprotected.I know it was naughty of me, but I couldn’t resist. So whenever my cable-modem went offline, I would get my e-mail, browse the Web, and get my Vonage dial tone thanks to my neighbor’s broadband Internet connection. But now the love is gone. I feel hurt, rejected, like a dog left out in the rain. Encryption has been enabled. Thinking back, I wonder if there was anything I did to prompt this unfriendly action. I admit I was mildly curious about the PCs attached to my neighbor’s network, with its unprotected shared folders, and the two TiVo boxes he (or she) used. Still, I resisted the temptation to snoop. I never touched any of his (or her) machines, his (or her) income tax files, nor any of the HBO Real Sex or Sopranos episodes recorded on the Tivo boxes. I was tempted to send a message to the printer like the Internet classic “All your base are belong to us,” or set his (OK, I’ve decided it’s a guy) TiVo to record 40 hours of fashion makeovers, or some other juvenile prank. But with my luck, he would have had a heart attack and I’d be charged with murder.But seriously, folks, I am glad my neighbor finally got smart and enabled encryption. There is huge risk in leaving a wireless network unsecured. For instance, the workgroup name of my neighbor’s LAN is that of a large corporation. Most likely he’s a worker using a company-issued laptop to establish a VPN connection to his office. That means (before he enabled encryption) even a moderately talented hacker would have been able to perform a man-in-the-middle attack on this user’s corporate VPN connection and “own” whatever corporate network was at the other end — plus all the data on the local machines. If the hacker was in a playful mood, there would be nothing to stop him from copying kiddie porn to this person’s shared folders, and then calling the local authorities to go arrest the pervert. Scary thought, no? The moral? If you have a wireless network, enable every bit of encryption you can from day one. Although security technology such as MAC, WEP, and WPA is not perfect, it’s much better than nothing. Oh yes: The events described in this article may or may not have taken place, the network described may or may not exist, the characters depicted are probably fictional. And even if they aren’t, any likeness to people living, dead, or otherwise is purely coincidental, accidental, and a damn lie. And of course, I’m signing this “Anonymous.” Data Management