Re: [PLUG] Verizon FIOS & open wireles

I think that saying "you don't need to secure your AP" is about as safe as saying "your home/business/whatever internet connection doesn't need a firewall". It just seems horribly counter-intuitive to me. It's common-place in today's world to install some sort of firewall/router device on one's internet connection. This is mainly because it's generally accepted that leaving one's self wide-open is not a good thing. It seems kind of silly to me that most people will buy a router/firewall, and then create a wireless, self-announcing, back door.

As a real-life example:
Would you leave your house door unlocked all of the time? Would you leave your keys in your unlocked car in an unlit alley-way all day and night? Sure, the chances of your car getting stolen are (depending on your area...for the sake of argument, I'm assuming one lives in the 'burbs) relatively slim. Are you willing to deal with the pain of financial loss and insurance paperwork, etc?

Then why make it easier for a thief/attacker? This is nothing short of silly when you take into consideration that most given thieves/attackers will choose the easiest target. By doing this, you're making yourself the easiest target.

mass-media counterculture has -- over approximately
the past 4 years -- tried to shout over the wireless community
grassroots efforts such as NoCat.net and FreeNetworks.org, with
repeatedly scaring people into "securing" their wireless access
points

I've got nothing against large mesh networks, but I would like some sort of piece-of-mind. It all comes down to convenience vs security. Is the benefit of said network greater than my potential risk?

Is the convenience of leaving your access point open enough to deal with the consequences of someone else's misuse?

Is the convenience of leaving your doors unlocked enough to deal with a robbery? Even if it only ever happens once?
Not for me.

On 10/2/07, zuzu <sean.zuzu@gmail.com> wrote:

On 10/2/07, Marc Zucchelli <marcz908@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I have never really worried about people abusing my internet connection.
> MOST people would be completely harmless, and the ones that are dangerous
> have to come within a close range to my house.  Is this really THAT serious
> of an issue?

I tend to lean conspiracy-theory on this, in that it seems to me that
an industry and mass-media counterculture has -- over approximately
the past 4 years -- tried to shout over the wireless community
grassroots efforts such as NoCat.net and FreeNetworks.org, with
repeatedly scaring people into "securing" their wireless access
points.  I suspect the hardware manufacturers and the
telecommunications companies fear a real software defined radio
wireless mesh network emerging from wireless community networks.

the "piggybacking problem" smells like FUD the same way that the "spam
problem" has always been FUD.  (it's called naive bayesian filtering;
install one and practically never see spam again.)

I leave all my wireless access points open, and I run an I2P strong
cryptography onion routing gateway.  there's probably tons of crazy
packets using my IP as an outpoint, but I also have tons of plausible
deniability.

p.s. I think "net neutrality" and "tiered internet" debates (both
sides) are FUD too.  routing all traffic through I2P makes deep packet
inspection impossible and would ensure that ISPs continue to simply
overprovision the networks as they should (especially since analysis
of total cost of operation shows that overprovisioning is cheaper than
packet shaping).

> jeff <jeffv@op.net> wrote:
>  gabriel rosenkoetter wrote:
> > I don't understand when it became a bad idea to share ones Internet
> > connection on purpose.
>
> My guess would be when it became popular to hijack/hack connections.
>
>
> > Being open (and neighborly) is not mutually exclusive with keeping
> > your own systems secure.
>
> if this were the 50's (yes, my wireless has tubes), I'd be right there
> with you. Unfortunately I'm kinda stuck with the belief that if you
> leave a door open, people will start coming through it (in a bad way).
>
> There might be an undocumented hole in my setup. I might have forgotten
> to patch something. Imo, there are too many negative types about even
> to allow cordoned off access. Mind you, if my neighbor needed it, I'd
> find a way.

can I assume for a moment that you use a laptop?  so you never use an
untrusted network with said laptop?

> P.S. with one of the aftermarket wireless OSes (dd-wrt, et al), you can
> allegedly jack up the output of your wireless.

for anyone with a modicum of computer savvy, DD-WRT Linux (or any
other OpenWRT like distribution) seems almost necessary at this point.
to which, if you're worried about neighbors hosing your connection to
your detriment, I think DD-WRT makes it easy enough to throttle any
unrecognized MAC address (or at least packet shape against bittorrent
and ed2k).

or just setup a VPN to discriminate traffic.  (also a good idea for
the roaming laptop problem.)
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