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Blog Bits-n-Bytes
| September 13th, 2005 at 02:09:35 PM |
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| A few reasons to use Wireless Home Networking |
 Those of you who keep up with Wi-Fi news may have already heard the story about the man in St. Petersburg, Florida who has been arrested for accessing someone else’s wireless network. Why? Because he used someone else’s Wi-Fi without their permission—in other words, he stole it. It seems innocent enough in many cases, until you begin to consider the potential consequences.
The man used his laptop in his car—parked right in front of the resident’s house—to hack the wireless network. What makes this type of activity so dangerous is that it can allow access to personal information stored on the computers connected to the network as well as access to other illegal materials and activities on the Internet. Worst of all, it allows the hacker to remain anonymous.
Wireless Fidelity, or Wi-Fi, has grown tremendously over the past few years. Millions of homes are setup with wireless routers whose primary purpose is to transmit high-speed Internet service to multiple computers throughout the home. These routers and other wireless equipment usually give ranges of up to 300 feet—meaning that for some homes, users can sit in the front or backyard and still connect to the Internet. This is the reason how this man was able to hack and use another person’s wireless network just by being parked in front of the house.
Wi-Fi is growing rapidly beyond just household use—you can surf the Internet in nearly any Starbucks coffee shop or Panera Bread restaurant with a laptop and a wireless card. The ProLog Unleashed Wi-Fi hotspot service provides this same type of access in various locations throughout PenTeleData’s service area.
But, nearly every good technological innovation has a darker side to be exploited. In this case, wireless makes it easier for criminals to cover their digital tracks. Anyone who does the same thing as the St. Petersburg man can disguise their tracks behind the person who’s wireless access they’re stealing. The tracks will end at the compromised wireless router belonging to an ordinary law-abiding person.
There are people who drive around in their vehicles with wireless-equipped laptops and antennas looking for unsecured or easy-to-hack wireless networks to access—a practice often called ‘wardriving.’ The scariest part is that these people can drive up, use your wireless access to download information, send spam e-mail, or hack into other computers and drive off—you may never even know they were there unless they do something that eventually brings the police to your door.
So, if you want to go wireless, what can you do to prevent these things from happening to you? Well, if you are a ProLog Express customer—PenTeleData’s partners have begun offering a new Wireless Home Networking service. This service provides our customers with a complete Wi-Fi setup that has already been secured to protect against the above mentioned misuses. Should you ever have a problem, PenTeleData’s Technical Support is available for assistance. It’s that easy and a much safer way for you to enjoy wireless. Plus, the entire Wireless Home Networking setup is installed and pre-configured by PenTeleData’s partners.
If your cable company is Blue Ridge Communications, Service Electric Cable TV, Service Electric Cablevision, Service Electric Company, CATV, or if your telephone company is Ironton Telephone or Palmerton Telephone, you can sign up for a ProLog Express broadband cable or DSL modem and enjoy the benefit of having ProLog Unleashed access for FREE! You may also inquire about the availability of Wireless Home Networking.
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