[ NNSquad ] Re: Wi-Fi owner flips images for unwanted neighbors

[Joe Baptista <baptista@publicroot.org>]

I think you over analyzed this. With a little modification you could capture
data just like a man in the middle attack.

The ethics here are clearly in his favor. If your on my network illegally I
have every right to investigate as well as interfere with your access. I get
the point though. With some modification to the hack you could really get to
know your neighbors off the data harvested.

But I get your point. People could get nasty and do something like transfer
the wifi pirates bank accounts could end up donated to charity of the local
library computer. Police have no time to investigate cybercrime. They don't
even know where to start. Police departments that do have specialized
cybercrime units don't have the time to investigate something like that.
They are too busy chasing child porn.

The police don't care either. Our police are too busy chasing criminals and
donut hopping. I can see someone using a modification of the hack to capture
all the users data to find out where the evil villain lives on the block.
Essentially all the proof required to get the police to act on it and charge
the neighbor. After all It is a crime to steal communications. I can see
some anal retentive fool without a sense of humor using this to "charge"
their neighbors with a crime.

I'm going to use the hack myself to redirect all wifi users to a dead end
page page that says "sorry you have reached the end of the Internet - please
restart your computer".

So yes - it could be abused - but the hack itself show us the author has a
good sense of humor. The blur function is neat.

regards
joe baptista

Come on Lauren - its funny. One could have fun this hack.

   [ Like I said, it's a cute hack.  But as you also note above, there
     are all sorts of ways abuse could creep in.  This seems like a
     rather binary decision to me.  If you want to run an open Wi-Fi
     with your eyes also wide open to the associated issues, that's
     fine, great in fact.

     But, if you don't want to provide an access service to random
     people who are getting onto your Wi-Fi, close it with access
     control.  To leave it open and then play mind games with
     users who connect strikes me as being a bit akin to aiming the
     sun through a magnifying glass at bugs on the sidewalk.  Not my
     personal concept of responsible fun.

           -- Lauren Weinstein
              NNSquad Moderator ]


On Fri, Feb 26, 2010 at 7:34 PM, Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com> wrote:

>
> Wi-Fi owner flips images for unwanted neighbors
>
> http://bit.ly/9KKy3S  (ex-parrot.com) ["Pining for the fjords?"]
>
> While this is undeniably a seriously cute hack, the ethics of
> modifying data in this way (even in such an obvious manner)
> strike me as being somewhat nebulous at best.  Seems much more
> appropriate to turn on WPA2 and just be done with it, rather than
> tamper with the actual data.
>
> Also, perhaps this guy has proof that the neighbors are consciously
> using his network without permission, but I've seen *many* cases
> of neighbors locked onto the wrong Wi-Fi network for very long
> periods without even realizing it.  Of course upside-down images
> would be a clue that something was amiss, but it still seems
> a bit questionable as a tactic.
>
> --Lauren--
> NNSquad Moderator
>