Babylon Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 We have a debate raging at work at the minute, is it illegal to use someone else's wireless broadband if they have left it unsecured? It's morally wrong of course... but is it illegal? What would you do?
James. Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 Positive that I read or heard somewhere that it was illegal. Bollocks law though if it is.
charliefox Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 If it is illegal then it's a stupid law. If they're stupid enough to leave it unsecured then it's fair game I say.
hairy Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 It is illegal and considered theft But yes I would. I would also access the router and put an access password on it so they couldn't use it. But then I'm evil
Dr The Singh Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 Yes, it is, my neighbour reported my brother who had been nicking his for over 2 years!!
Zingari Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 i think piggybacking is illegal (in all senses of the word)
Libertine Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 Thankfully ours is sorted now, but I've to use the neighbour's in the past.
Lillehamring Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 really? but when you get so many signals these days, many with just the name of the device's manufaturer, how do you know if it is not a free service anyway...
Darkzzz_ Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 You have to be quite stupid to have a unsecured network. I piggybacked onto a network when I was in Barcelona last month. I always search for open networks and use them if I am on the road.
MC Prussian Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 Guilty of having nicked free signals in the past. Seldomly, though.
JoeyB Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 Right now at home i could access 3 other people's networks.
Wycombe Fox Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 Hope this helps (from Wiki) Extract from The Computer Misuse Act 1990, Section 1 reads; (1) A person is guilty of an offence if— (a) he causes a computer to perform any function with intent to secure access to any program or data held in any computer; (b) the access he intends to secure is unauthorised; and © he knows at the time when he causes the computer to perform the function that that is the case.
Babylon Posted 5 March 2009 Author Posted 5 March 2009 Yes, it is, my neighbour reported my brother who had been nicking his for over 2 years!! What happened?
Dr The Singh Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 What happened? Got a letter from Virgin Boradband notifying him of the criminal act and that due to the new nature of the crime the letter has been sent and that Leicestershire Constabulary had been notified and if he continued he would be charged etc!!! The wierd thing is or should I say my brother is so dumb is that he actually thought he was connected to his virgin router, and when he checked, his router wasn't even switched on!!!
Shrenchel Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 Yeh. Read a news story once where someone got in trouble with plod for sitting on the wall outside someone's house and using their internet.
Rincewind Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 Never knew it was illegal. I've been in pubs and used my PC. In some you need a password which they will give out or type in for you. I wish I could do it at work. Have to use a mobile device. I was looking once at home and one of the connections was the MOD. It was secure though. Now I would like to know what building does the MOD run from in an area near the red light district of Leicester? I'm pretty sure my home PC is secure. I use the router for my laptop but I have a firewall up and normally warned when programs etc want access. This must be a new law because when I bought my laptop the salesman in the shop was telling me how I could connect to unsecured networks. I think reading the passage about the law it states that it is illegal if you take information and private details from the user for your own use and gain. Or if you know that by doing it you are costing the persons bill to rise. Most people have broadband so pay a set amount each month for unlimited access. I have been in places and have automatically been connected with my laptop without even searching. But there are a lot of places with hot points so you dont always know which are public and which are private. You could be in a place and think you are connected to the places freewireless but instead be connected to a house a few hundred yards away.
macky Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 If it is illegal then it's a stupid law. If they're stupid enough to leave it unsecured then it's fair game I say. I agree, it really is such a stupid law. It's the same as if somebody leaves their front door unlocked, why shouldn't I just walk in and have a look around and help myself to their stuff if I want to? Stupid laws.
macky Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 I was looking once at home and one of the connections was the MOD. It was secure though. Now I would like to know what building does the MOD run from in an area near the red light district of Leicester? I named my wireless network buckinghampalace, but that's because I have Prince Phillip locked in the cupboard under the stairs. He's usually quite well behaved. This must be a new law because when I bought my laptop the salesman in the shop was telling me how I could connect to unsecured networks. I think you must be right, because a laptop salesman would obviously be well versed on the Computer Misuse Act and wouldn't just try anything to make a sale.
Webbo Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 Sorry to sound thick but how do you secure your network? I'm not sure if mine is or not.
macky Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 Sorry to sound thick but how do you secure your network? I'm not sure if mine is or not. In very basic terms, you need to access your wireless router and check the security settings. It's similar to setting up a password on your network so that if somebody tries to connect to your router, they need to provide the password. That's only a very simplistic overview btw and the steps to actually achieve it will vary depending on which router you have. RTFM.
Webbo Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 In very basic terms, you need to access your wireless router and check the security settings. It's similar to setting up a password on your network so that if somebody tries to connect to your router, they need to provide the password.That's only a very simplistic overview btw and the steps to actually achieve it will vary depending on which router you have. RTFM. Thanks for that Macky, what are you doing on here anyway?
macky Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 Thanks for that Macky, what are you doing on here anyway? Just being nosey, I heard that somebody had posted on here that Gradel wasn't being played because NP thinks he's too good for League 1! Who could resist a gem like that?
the_bowman Posted 5 March 2009 Posted 5 March 2009 I'm studying A level computing at the moment, and in the section in my book on the Computer Misuse Act 1990, and one of the offences stated is; unauthorised access to computer material, i.e. data or programs I'm assuming that technically you are 'intercepting' their wireless signal, and therefore unlawfully accessing their data. I'm pretty sure I read about it somewhere in my CISCO course too, but I'll get back to you on that one.
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