Mar 122006
The New York Times recently ran a story about the ethics of piggybacking on a neighbor’s wireless hotspot. Most residential wireless hotspots are unencrypted because the owner never bothers to activate the router’s security features, which makes the hotspot available to anyone who is within range of the signal. A few people purposely leave their networks unencrypted as a sort of public service to the neighborhood, but most open networks are the result of neglect, not civic virtue. I’ve debated leaving my network open to my neighbors, but the potential risks of a slower internet connection and unauthorized access to my personal files are significant enough for me to dismiss the idea. Besides, a quick scan of the available hotspots in the immediate vicinity reveals that there are plenty of other options for any freeloaders in my building.
