Wi-Fi? Insecure? Pshaw!

I just read a fascinating article in the St. Petersburg Times about a fellow who was arrested for using an open Wi-Fi AP to surf the Web. This is one of only a handful of such arrests across the country. It reminded me of just how prevalent Wi-Fi technology is now, and how easy it is to break it. I’m going to be double-checking my own Access Point tonight for some of the things they mention at the bottom of the article. I also wonder at times how secure the local SAS APs are from intrusion.

I already run WEP (for whatever good that does me), but I haven’t mucked with MAC filters yet and figure that may be a good idea. Running my own AP has always made me nervous, and this article hasn’t helped. I sure am looking forward to having some consumer devices with better security hit the market soon.

Wi-Fi strikes me as being a technology that the was rushed into without fully understanding the consequences of its use. Sure, it’s really convenient and fun to use, but does that counterbalance the security risk?

One thought on “Wi-Fi? Insecure? Pshaw!

  1. I think the consequences were fully understood, but they also understood that John Doe would just be too stupid to properly implement it, so they didn’t bother too much.

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