Firewall Wizards mailing list archives
Re: Interlopers on the WLAN
From: Al Potter <apotter () icsalabs com>
Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2002 10:02:27 -0500
First, I am not a Lawyer, etc., etc....
Is it reasonable to assume that those who access WLANs without the permission of the owner are violating the same cybercrime laws that apply to any unauthorized access of a computer network?
I do not think this is a reasonable assumption in all cases.
Some have recently argued this is not the case if someone doesn't "enable the security features", but personally I don't see the distinction between this kind of activity and anything normally prohibited by laws such as California Penal Code section 502a and various other cybercrime laws. It doesn't seem to me that the law makes a distinction about whether the network in question was secured or not. (what does 'secured' mean anyway?)
The Law probably does not foresee that you would run a network cable out to the parking lot and install a hub with patch cables there for all to use. This is the equivalent of an unsecured wireless network. WEP is broken, no argument. Turning WEP on, despite the debatable value it has for providing a protective layer, does send a clear indication of a closed network. To borrow a phrase from Robert Moscowitz, "Think of WEP as the No Trespassing sign of Wireless LANs." If nothing else, independent of requirements (or the lack thereof) in the law for enabling security measures, I do believe most would agree that it would probably make it easier to convince a Judge / Jury that a crime had been committed, if one could show that a security measure was present, and circumvented. AL
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Current thread:
- Interlopers on the WLAN Philip J. Koenig (Nov 05)
- Re: Interlopers on the WLAN Al Potter (Nov 05)
- Re: Interlopers on the WLAN Mikael Olsson (Nov 05)
- Re: Interlopers on the WLAN Frank O'Dwyer (Nov 05)
- Re: Interlopers on the WLAN R. DuFresne (Nov 06)
- Re: Interlopers on the WLAN Philip J. Koenig (Nov 06)
- Re: Interlopers on the WLAN R. DuFresne (Nov 06)
- Re: Interlopers on the WLAN R. DuFresne (Nov 06)
- RE: Interlopers on the WLAN Bill Royds (Nov 06)
- RE: Interlopers on the WLAN Frank O'Dwyer (Nov 06)
- RE: Interlopers on the WLAN Philip J. Koenig (Nov 06)
- RE: Interlopers on the WLAN Frank O'Dwyer (Nov 06)
- RE: Interlopers on the WLAN Philip J. Koenig (Nov 06)