Re: Wireless Security (Part 2)

[Ian Scott <ian () pairowoodies com>]

On May 16, 2006 02:47 pm, David Gillett wrote:

> 2.  Can you post a sign on your driveway, giving yourself the right to
> search any cars that park there that you don't recognize?  I don't
> think so.  You have the right to report them to the *police*, who in turn
> might determine that a search warrant (or one of the few exceptions) is
> appropriate, but simply arrogating that authority to yourself is risky
> at best.

People confuse "rights" with what governments limit one in doing. The only 
"rights" that I know are those "natural rights" which include ownership of 
property.

With this in mind, I would have every right to do anything with any item found 
on my property without my permission or knowledge. In my jurisdiction, I 
don't have to call the police to have the property removed.  I can remove the 
vehicle myself without any permission from the State or its representatives.  
I may also have reason to search the vehicle myself before removing it for 
any number of reasons.  So, this analogy is false.

As someone who has a number of computers on a network, and include computers 
with multiple IP addresses, I believe i have every right to attack an IP I 
find on my network to discover what it is that is using that IP address.  I 
don't always have time, nor is it always convenient for me upon discover of 
the use of an IP address that I don't have a record of, to call all my 
customers and ask if they perhaps configured their computer with an IP 
(accidents can happen) incorrectly.

This applies to both wireless and wired components.

Depending on the circumstances, I may choose not to attempt to gain access to 
the computer or whatever it is that is on my network - if for example, one of 
my clients' boxes appears to have been hacked itself, and is sending out 
spam, I won't bother trying to access the box.  I'll simply walk over and 
unplug it.  One could argue that my actions of removing the ethernet cable 
from the box is some form of "trespass" against that box - the male end of 
the cable is inside the female end of the ethernet card inside the box.

They can argue that all they want - with whatever analogies they want.  It's 
my network - the resources that make the network possible, regardless of 
whether it is wired or wireless, are my resources.  It's my property - and I 
have every "right" to know what or who is on my network - and there may be 
times when I simply can't ask - I have to do something else to find out.

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