Cybercrime
March 20, 2006 6:53 PM Subscribe
Does city-wide wi-fi increase cybercrime? Are there any studies on this?
Probably, just like a city-wide road system or subway system increases physical crime.
Sure, roads let criminals get around and even get around to new areas to criminalize, but the majority of road use supports or allows legal activity and legal wealth production.
Analogously, city-wide wi-fi will allow everyone to be more productive -- and to spend more time goofing off on the web, and allow a minority to engage in cybercrime.
posted by orthogonality at 7:00 PM on March 20, 2006
Sure, roads let criminals get around and even get around to new areas to criminalize, but the majority of road use supports or allows legal activity and legal wealth production.
Analogously, city-wide wi-fi will allow everyone to be more productive -- and to spend more time goofing off on the web, and allow a minority to engage in cybercrime.
posted by orthogonality at 7:00 PM on March 20, 2006
Response by poster: Like, wouldn't the people that would commit cybercrime already have the internet and with the increased availablity wouldn't there be more simple crime? I'm curious because my city is thinking about getting it soon.
posted by my sock puppet account at 7:01 PM on March 20, 2006
posted by my sock puppet account at 7:01 PM on March 20, 2006
Response by poster: Be simple crime, I mean people stealing wallets to buy crap online or other uncomplicated stuff.
posted by my sock puppet account at 7:03 PM on March 20, 2006
posted by my sock puppet account at 7:03 PM on March 20, 2006
Thye'll be increased stealling of laptops/handhelds/other wifi devices, simply because a city-wide network will encourage people to use them outside, and with ubiquitous use, some percentage of people will forget to watch their stuff.
posted by orthogonality at 7:06 PM on March 20, 2006
posted by orthogonality at 7:06 PM on March 20, 2006
I think any cybercrime is already taking place at libraries with their free connections (and sometimes free wifi). I imagine we'll see some scary stories about how city wifi causes crime (no doubt pushed by the big telecos that want to make money on each and every connection), but seriously, if you're piggybacking your crime on open networks, there are already plenty of cafes, libraries, and small businesses that leave their wifi wide open.
posted by mathowie at 7:45 PM on March 20, 2006
posted by mathowie at 7:45 PM on March 20, 2006
I don't think there are any major U.S. cities with "city-wide" wi-fi yet. Philadelphia is supposed to go online sometime this summer. For now, there's just a profusion of municipal hotspots.
It is difficult to tell how widespread cybercrime is, because reporting rates are notoriously low. Businesses don't like to report because it is embarrassing. Home users, if they realize they've been victimized at all, tend not to bother. So I don't know if you'll ever get a decent study on this point.
posted by profwhat at 8:00 PM on March 20, 2006
It is difficult to tell how widespread cybercrime is, because reporting rates are notoriously low. Businesses don't like to report because it is embarrassing. Home users, if they realize they've been victimized at all, tend not to bother. So I don't know if you'll ever get a decent study on this point.
posted by profwhat at 8:00 PM on March 20, 2006
Actually, I think there will be a decrease in the cybercrime of hijacking random people's unsecured connections.
I was driving around Oahu about a month ago scouting out locations for a family reunion, and any time I wanted to check something out on my laptop I just pulled up next to some condos and hopped on the invevitable open network.
Also, a city-wide system could easily keep track of Wi-Fi MAC addresses, which would make it a lot less anonymous then you might think.
posted by tkolar at 8:06 PM on March 20, 2006
I was driving around Oahu about a month ago scouting out locations for a family reunion, and any time I wanted to check something out on my laptop I just pulled up next to some condos and hopped on the invevitable open network.
Also, a city-wide system could easily keep track of Wi-Fi MAC addresses, which would make it a lot less anonymous then you might think.
posted by tkolar at 8:06 PM on March 20, 2006
Unless there's accountability, people will probably use the wi-fi for warez and kiddy porn. Even if there is accountability, some people are just desperate, and will do it anyway. But, you could argue that these people would break the law anyway, and therefore the net increase in cybercrime would be non-existent.
posted by fvox13 at 8:25 PM on March 20, 2006
posted by fvox13 at 8:25 PM on March 20, 2006
I'm assuming that you are talking about Toronto .
Will this access be free and anonymous or will it be offered as a subscription service? I was under the impression that it would be the latter, and if so, it would not be that great for criminals accessing the net.
posted by grex at 11:42 PM on March 20, 2006
Will this access be free and anonymous or will it be offered as a subscription service? I was under the impression that it would be the latter, and if so, it would not be that great for criminals accessing the net.
posted by grex at 11:42 PM on March 20, 2006
Also, a city-wide system could easily keep track of Wi-Fi MAC addresses, which would make it a lot less anonymous then you might think.
If there's a false perception of anonymity, you could imagine a variety of people stumbling into a city-wide honeypot, a spike in apprehensions, followed by a drop in activity.
posted by gimonca at 5:26 AM on March 21, 2006
If there's a false perception of anonymity, you could imagine a variety of people stumbling into a city-wide honeypot, a spike in apprehensions, followed by a drop in activity.
posted by gimonca at 5:26 AM on March 21, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by tkolar at 6:56 PM on March 20, 2006