🚀 go-pugleaf

On 06/19/2010 08:40 AM, John Navas wrote:
> On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 08:22:43 -0700, in <hvinc0$4k0$3@speranza.aioe.org>,
> JC Dill <jcdill.lists@gmail.com> wrote:
...
>>Not just using cleartext passwords over wifi, using cleartext passwords 
>>over UNPROTECTED wifi.  (If they had any protection on their wifi, then 
>>Google wouldn't have connected or recorded anything.)  In that case they 
>>absolutely have no expectation of privacy.  It's like shouting your 
>>password to your friend across the street.

Agreed. Anyone that has an a interest in Wardriving can do the same. I
think however it issue is the fact that Google specializes in data
collection & have the resources to tie all that information together.

> 
> The problem is hardware manufacturers that marketed insecure wireless
> devices, not the unsuspecting victims that bought them -- users are not
> required to become computer security experts just to use Internet
> services safely.  The industry has at last faced up to its
> responsibilities, and is now doing much more to ensure that wireless
> networks are secure by default: Wi-Fi Protected Setup.
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Setup>
> 

Good luck with that. Users in any college dorm, college apartment
complex etc., would most likely immediately disable any default security
features.

I suspect the kids are getting a little better regarding this
(security), but it's not uncommon at all for college students to open
their (parent paid) high speed wifi so that all of their buddies can hop
on and use the feed.

I was pretty upset to learn that my son & his roomates (college) were
all using the open wifi from the guy in the apartment across the hall
(who had encouraged them to go ahead and use it). Of course they were
all transmitting college papers, job applications (with social security
numbers, financial info, etc., etc.) across this network.
  I sat down with a laptop and collected info for a full day. I then
showed them, and the guy supplying the access, the info that I'd
collected from them, the guy supplying the access, others accessing the
network (porn and all). Spent the evening buttoning up the "supplier's"
network in return for the "supplier" allowing the kids to continue using
the network via wpa2.
  They were pretty surprised to learn that an "old guy" actually knew
how to "snoop on their personal and private" network access... Go figure.