Screaming Penguin

Wardriving, for the uninitiated is really more about finding and collecting information about various wireless access points rather than using them, but the term has become synonymous with *finding an accessible wireless network with your laptop and using it*. A Florida man was charged with felony unauthorized use of a computer system when he was caught in his car with his laptop using a wide open wireless network from another mans residential home. I do that OFTEN. Whenever I am somewhere without net access I generally will use the first available and unsecured wireless network I find, many of them yes residential. I do not go out specifically looking for a WAP, ever, but generally wherever I turn my laptop on various WAPS advertise themselves (at my home my WAP is secured, but I can "see" 6 others that are not, also at my office there are many unsecured - these are routers executives decided to stick in their offices and not setup correctly for their own convenience, they are likely not authorized at the company by any sysadmin). I never considered this to be a crime on my part, but maybe I need to RE-consider. Rather I consider it totally STUPID for people to setup a wireless router and then NOT secure it. They are TRIVIAL TO SECURE. Yet many people do not do so. Then when I turn on my computer those networks ADVERTISE THEMSELVES AS AVAILABLE AND UNSECURED, so I use them, from time to time. This really should not be a crime, this case is horrendous. And note that I never try to access any data on another persons network but rather just use the router, conveniently configured to advertise itself and provide me an IP address via DHCP, to access the public Internet. I have a counter argument for the ridiculous Florida case, the man who advertises his wireless network in an insecure fashion is USING OTHERS COMPUTERS HIMSELF - IN AN UNAUTHORIZED FASHION. If I drive by and your network alerts me its there then it has USED MY COMPUTER. These type laws are really really stupid. Sure we need laws to protect against ACTUAL computer crimes (accessing data on a SECURED network by trying to subvert the security) but a felony for clicking on "go ahead and use it" when on a wireless that advertised itself and available and unsecured is just ridiculous. Its even more egregious to call this "hacking" and so on as the authorities often do. I would argue this is not "unauthorized" usage at all, when there is no "authorization" setup its perfectly well authorized for ANYONE to use it.   Florida man charged with felony for wardriving