Secure Your Wifi - Or Else!

[CrufflerSteve]

I'm glad mine has a pretty good password and nobody in range:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/06/swat-team-throws-flashbangs-raids-wrong-home-due-to-open-wifi-network/

SWAT team throws flashbangs, raids wrong home due to open WiFi network

[Ronin13]

Whoops! I've felt the effects of an FB, those things suck! Video games kinda come close, but it hurts so bad- and I have tinnitus so it makes for the ringing to last even longer and worse. Pretty crazy, but glad no one was hurt. I always secure my connection using a complex 16 character encrypted password! [Beer]

[Wiggity]

Those swat douchebags

[Lex_Luthor]

I always secure my connection using a complex 16 character encrypted password! [Beer]

Now that I know your password is complex and has 16 characters, I'm going to get started on hacking you! [Coffee]

[blacklabel]

Those swat douchebags

At least they didn't purposely flash bang the kids in the next house. Randomly chucking explosive devices in one house a day is enough.

[merl]

I leave a open wifi hotspot running with minimal bandwidth and some (easily avoided) site blocking. I'll take the risk. Given I've blocked mac addresses due to torrent use I think I have other much larger risks than a swat team. The bigger concern there is that a SWAT team raided someone based solely on computer use traced back to an IP used by that house. A) since when does computer use warrant swat response? B) shouldn't there be some evidence beyond an IP address? (especially before swat is involved)

[CrufflerSteve]

It's long overdue for SWAT teams to have clearly established Rules of Engagement. When they have all that cool ninja equipment and do all the training there must be an overwhelming desire to try it out.

It can be done. Years ago the police would just jump into high speed chases. It led to a lot of dead people in accidents caused by this. Over time they came of with rules for this and other ways to dealing with it. SWAT raids need to be limited to where a real danger is shown.

Steve

[Circuits]

I leave a open wifi hotspot running with minimal bandwidth and some (easily avoided) site blocking. I'll take the risk. Given I've blocked mac addresses due to torrent use I think I have other much larger risks than a swat team. The bigger concern there is that a SWAT team raided someone based solely on computer use traced back to an IP used by that house. A) since when does computer use warrant swat response? B) shouldn't there be some evidence beyond an IP address? (especially before swat is involved)

Not solely based on an IP, read the article. Turns out they were wrong about the occupant, but they believed an armed semi- or at least wannabe- gangsta lived there. IE Facebook pics of person posing with a gun, said person having some misdemeanors on his rap sheet.

[Delfuego]

Make sure your WiFi has WPA (WPA2) and not WEP either...[Beer]

[cfortune]

I white list MAC addresses. It's a pain but it ensures even if someone is brute forcing my key, they can't do anything once they've wasted days getting it.

[brutal]

Some investigation.

That said, leaving your access points unsecured, you're more likely to get a nastygram from your internet provider accusing you of serving up copyrighted porn via bi-torrent.

[TFOGGER]

Home network is MAC filtered with a WPA2 key to boot(got sick of the neighbor leeching wifi and sucking bandwidth. Wide open here at the shop, for our customers to use.

[Irving]

This story is full of stupid.

[cofi]

no knock warrants suck dick

[Zundfolge]

Secure Your Wifi - Or Else!Actually the lesson here is if you're up to no good DON'T secure your WiFi as it'll make the cops go easier on you.


Because most people aren't stupid enough to make obvious threats from their own home Internet connection, the corollary principle also holds: if a home does have an open WiFi connection, investigators might want to ease away from the flashbangs-and-SWAT-team approach; the threat of getting it wrong is a real one.


The simple fact is that as long as police are protected from prosecution, law suits or even dismissal for acting on bad intel, they'll continue to do it and not care who's rights they stomp on or how many household pets they murder.

[asmo]

I white list MAC addresses. It's a pain but it ensures even if someone is brute forcing my key, they can't do anything once they've wasted days getting it.

Think about it for more than a couple of seconds and you will see why MAC filters don't actually add any extra security..

Hint: everything in wireless is a broadcast.. So I see all the legit Macs anyway. Changing a MAC to match is much more trivial than banging your WPA keys.

[asmo]

Actually the lesson here is if you're up to no good DON'T secure your WiFi as it'll make the cops go easier on you.

This. Besides it also lends to plausible deniability.

[losttrail]

Welcome to the Police States of Amerika.

[Byte Stryke]

Passwords for wi-fi are like locking the doors on your convertible...

it keeps the honest ones honest, if I really want into your network, there are too many ways to pull the password right out of the air.

Mac address filtering?.. OK, it's gonna take another minute.

[TFOGGER]

Passwords for wi-fi are like locking the doors on your convertible...

it keeps the honest ones honest, if I really want into your network, there are too many ways to pull the password right out of the air.

Mac address filtering?.. OK, it's gonna take another minute.

Like any lock, wireless security measures can be broken. As you said, it keeps honest people honest, and makes the open network down the street more attractive, as thieves are naturally lazy...

[Half Live]

When I set up customers modems, I always make sure the wifi is locked down or turned off.