[X4U] Re: Wireless "theft"

[Robert Ameeti]

At 3:28 AM +0100, 6/16/05, Stroller wrote:

>On Jun 16, 2005, at 3:07 am, Robert Ameeti wrote:
>>
>>What I am getting at is that I've set up over a hundred wireless 
>>networks for my business clients. On every one of them, I've set 
>>them up as open networks. Not a single client has ever had a 
>>problem with this type of setup. They locked down their servers and 
>>computers and knowingly have their internet connections open...
>
>Whilst I admire your philosophy, the problem is that you clients' 
>competitors could be reading every email they send, perusing any 
>documents your clients access over their wireless networks.

If a competitor is going to come within wireless signal distance, 
they will be coming looking for trouble. If they are going to place 
themselves within this 150' distance and try to set up a wireless 
packet sniffer to catch the signals going through the air, the trash 
left in the trash bin would be a bit easier. How many businesses are 
threatened by what goes in their trash? How many competitors are 
going to be setting up packet sniffers within visual distance of a 
competitor? Don't you think my clients would notice their competitor 
sitting in their car for hours on end? or perhaps you are thinking 
they are in a plumbers van looking like a maintenance truck? 
Watergate isn't the world that my clients are in. They don't have 
spys that they anticipate hanging around their business hoping to 
sniff some airwaves.

Like I said, there are way too many foil hats now that people know 
how to do something, they now feel that they must.

>Whilst the risk of one of _your_ customers being targeted for 
>privileged information by passive packet-sniffing is very low, do 
>you really want to risk being asked the question: "what you mean, 
>you didn't bother to encrypt our network?"

I've explained the pros and cons, and they've all trusted my 30 years 
of computer, network, and business experience. But then again, I 
don't have any anti virus protection on the OS X networks either. But 
that is best left for another foil hat thread.
-- 

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Robert Ameeti

A wise man can see more from a the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top.
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