Sleeping Around Wirelessly

With all the personal information on your computer, do you ever wonder what would happen if someone gained access or control? You may be thinking, "But I have nothing important - why would anyone bother?" Think again. People do bother - and the information they gain could lead to serious privacy or identity theft, not to mention alarming financial repercussions. How do I know this is true? Time for a confession...

Recently, while in Vancouver on business, I found myself in a newly renovated hotel. Although the network cable installers were working tirelessly in the wiring closet just outside in the hall, no internet was yet available from my room. I needed to access my e-mail. Enter wireless and the West-end of Vancouver direct to my balcony door.

I know that on any given day from my home or from the office, I can pick up at least a dozen wireless 802.11b or 802.11g networks. Often on these wireless networks the security layer is not enabled, allowing me uninterrupted access should I choose to connect.

Now the CRTC has rules about signal piracy, but did they really apply to me? I'm usually a law-abiding kind of guy, but here I was with a computer and an email itch to scratch... the temptation was too great. I used someone's wireless in the Vancouver West End to guiltily check my mail and then immediately disconnected (honest).

The entire experience was nerve-racking, and not just because the signal was flaky and sometimes dropped me. No, I was uncomfortable with the power that unnamed people had given me to wreak destruction on their computers, and potentially in their lives.

Now, I only needed my email - and I certainly had no desire to go poking around these people's computers to see what I could find. But it made me wonder if it was not like leaving the door open when you go to work with your wallet and keys - not to mention the PIN number for your bank card - sitting in plain view on the hall table.

These people had left their wireless wide open for me. I walked right in the door. Every time I fired up my machine, it went out and found the wireless networks and gave me a list of them by name, MAC address and whether encryption was enabled or disabled. It was very convenient. And I could imagine that to another type of person, it might be an invitation to robbery,

I thought a bit about what would happen if someone gained access to my computer. All the information they'd need to rip me off would be right there on my machine, in its files, registry and cache. My browser remembers my access number and password for the bank. My credit card numbers are stored in a document on the hard drive in case I need to cancel them while traveling. And for security purposes, my mother's maiden name can be found in a family tree file on the hard drive.

I cursed the computer owners who only had 802.11b for not upgrading to 802.11g, and made an oath not to use other people's wireless again, for now. I also realized that an end user who can't enable wireless encryption in their environment is not going to know how to lock out other users from stealing the network capacity they have broadcast to them. They may not even know that open signals may lead to attempts to acquire vital information stored on their machine. And besides, what home user has the capability on a home network to monitor for hijackers?

So as penance for my wireless transgression, a few suggestions to computer owners using wireless internet connections:

1. Encrypt your wireless, even if it means an upgrade on your equipment

4. If you are not encrypting your wireless, turn off the base station when you are not using it, even if you have turned off your machine. (Why share the connectivity when you're paying the whole cost?)

5. Use a tool like Ad-Aware on your machine to watch for wayward cookies and registry settings

6. Check to make sure your network cannot be probed by using a test website to probe your machine such as https://www.hackerwatch.org/probe/

By Robert Preston

AUTHOR BYLINE: Robert Preston is a Partner at ISTCL, a company providing end-to-end information technology and business solutions to clients across Canada and the United States, utilizing a highly customized, cost-efficient delivery model. Visit the ISTCL website at www.istcl.com to learn how ISTCL can help you achieve your strategic business objectives and reduce your information technology costs.