Risks and costs of unsecured network

[GwydionM]

I've just got a Belkin box and hooked it up successfully to my PC, using a broadband line from BT which I'd been using directly for some time. The new set-up gives me an 'unsecured wireless network', which my laptop can also access.

Two questions:
a) Does it cost me anything if anyone else uses my connection? My laptop can just log in, so I supose anyone else in range can do the same.
b) How insecure is this 'unsecured wireless network'? I assume that if it was confidential business details, some protection and encryption would be needed. But this is home use, private but not really secret and I am not expecting anyone else to be very interested. I'd not use it for credit cards, obviously. But otherwise does it matter?

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An old man who lives in the UK

 

[rliebsch]

kinda.

there have been cases of drive by spamming. People pull up outside your house/apartment and send loads of spam.

or you could have a child pronographer who gets his stuff through your connection. Or a hacker to exploits through your connection. You'd probably get off, but be prepared for potential nastiness.

So, its a judgement call. Trust thy neighbor and roaming kids with lapotps, OR take some precautions and sleep a little better at night.

Robert Liebsch
Stone Yamashita Partners

http://www.stoneyamashita.com/

 

[Frank4d]

a) Does it cost me anything if anyone else uses my connection? My laptop can just log in, so I supose anyone else in range can do the same.

It could cost you plenty. Your neighbors can use your connection for P2P file sharing... and you get sued or arrested for downloading copyrighted material (if it's through your connection the RIAA, MPAA, and FBI figures you did it).

So it is best to turn on WPA or WEP protection.

 

[dput]

While you are connected to this unsecured wireless connection, your laptop will also be vulnerable to attack from others using your link. The security is not hard to set up and is the only thing that makes sense. Set the security up.

Dan

 

[GwydionM]

Thanks for the advice. I'll follow it and not use the network till I can get it secure.

My problem is that when I tried setting up a key, it successfully locked out my laptop. I thought all I needed to do was enter the same word I had used for key generation, but this failed. It was fine for as long as the network was unsecured.

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An old man who lives in the UK

 

[N0ktar]

If you use WEP you can use this website to generate your key

http://www.andrewscompanies.com/tools/wep.asp

than just copy and paste the values and you should be up & running. It should not lock you up this time, just make sure you chose the corresponding key length (128bit or 256bit).

 

[N0ktar]

I forgot to add that you should use HEX values.

 

[Frank4d]

Or manually enter a key such as D83CE9FB2CA1A55B2CA16D4A3. Choose something completely random using 0-9 and A-F.

 

[GwydionM]

You mean, if I enter 'Peanuts' for generating the key value, I should give the laptop the hex value it generates rather than 'Peanuts'? That would explain my failure, but the could be a little more user-friendly.

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An old man who lives in the UK

 

[dput]

Yup, that is what they mean. Secure and friendly often are opposites.

Dan

 

[GwydionM]

They needn't be. It could have said: "Note the hex values, because they are needed to let anyone else use your secured network".

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An old man who lives in the UK