http://ask.metafilter.com/tags/stealingwireless Questions tagged with 'stealingwireless' at Ask MetaFilter. Sat, 19 Jun 2004 10:08:34 -0800 Sat, 19 Jun 2004 10:08:34 -0800 en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 http://ask.metafilter.com/8071/Ethics%2Dand%2Ddangers%2Dof%2Dtapping%2Dinto%2Dyour%2Dneighbors%2Dwireless%2Dnet%2Daccess Ethics and dangers of tapping into your neighbor's wireless net access. So I just got a wireless laptop and I know zilch about how all this works. When I turn it on in my apartment, it tells me there are nearly a dozen available networks I can access. Some seem to require some kind of password, several don't. I'm assuming these are networks my neighbors in nearby apartments are paying for. My questions are: is it ethical to leech off someone else's account? Will it affect their own surfing? (The second question has implications for the first, in my view.) Will they notice? Should I try to find the person whose access I'm using and offer to pay half their bill? <br> What security dangers am I opening myself up to? If I keep doing this, can I get away with just not using this computer to send banking passwords and the like, seeing as I don't really care if anyone reads my email. Can someone now access my computer, not just the stuff I send? Are there any programs I should be using to protect myself? (Oh, and if you could use teeny tiny words, that would be great - I'm clueless technologically. Part of the problem here is I don't even know how to go about getting my own wireless access.) tag:ask.metafilter.com,2004:site.8071 Sat, 19 Jun 2004 10:08:34 -0800 access ethics internet internetaccess neighbors stealing stealingwireless unsecured wireless CunningLinguist