Hey Neighbour, Stop piggybacking on my Wireless by M. Marriott - Essay Example

Marriott, M. (2006, March 5). Hey Neighbour, Stop piggybacking on my Wireless. New York Times . This article tackles the everyday situation that surrounds the world of wireless. Piggybacking, the act of using another’s Wi-Fi, without the knowledge of the owner, is an everyday occurrence in the whole country. The article conveys to its readers information regarding the unmonitored use of unsecured Wi-Fi areas by people who access such points who use it without permission. Using unsecured Wi-Fi is not something that I believe to be a crime or activity that is worth feeling bad for. It is the people’s choice and responsibility to secure the internet connection that they own and the have the freedom to choose whether to use it for only themselves or provide wireless for others who might need or use it. As the article said, allowing piggybacking on your wireless might help others who need it’s convenience but can also be harmful to your own computer if someone decided to peer into your personal files. To be safe, as the reading said, you should set in mind that it is your own responsibility to set up the protection that your Wi-Fi needs. You will never be able to prevent people from using your wireless as long as it is unprotected. Thus, by knowing that the key to having a private connection is setting up a password for your router, you can help prevent unwanted misuse of the technology that you own. Thompson, C. (2012, July 30). Innocent Man Accused Of Child Pornography After Neighbour Pirates His Wi-Fi . Huff Post Tech . The dangers of having an unsecured Wi-Fi are tackled in this article. A man who did not set up protection for his wireless was accused of downloading and using something illegal. Child pornography was the case for this man and he was put to court due to his negligence to protect his connection. Although some people purposely leave an open connection, it is unsafe to assume that no harm will be done by other people who use open connections. Other people leave it open believing that it is an act of kindness to provide internet convenience for other people. Others are victims of indirect distribution of illegal things such as underage pornography. It is common case that unsecured internet routers have brought legal trouble for subscribers and so the court have indeed created procedures that counter or prevent those kind of things. However, not all can be prevented. Due to people’s negligence of their own responsibility, trouble still finds them. The only way that it can be prevented is to have caution that you always protect your connection. As we know that, we should act on our own and put a stop to bad things that might happen. As a community, we should educate others about this to help community protection and avoid trouble. Cotler, S. (2009 , July 10). Wireless Cybercriminals Target Clueless Vacationers. Fox News . More and more people are becoming victims of fake networks or hotspots because of the need for internet these days. People who are unaware that they are connecting to fraudulent connections are taken advantage on hackers by phishing for their private information that they input to such fake hotspots. These crimes are usually applicable to unsuspecting vacationers or tourist. Many people are clueless that they are using insecure Wi-Fi connections. With the increasing number of hackers nowadays, many can fall victim to cybercrime and the likes. With the world relying on information in its everyday course, it is an undeniable fact that many ill-minded schemers can easily hook you up and trick you into submitting to him or her private information which he can use to take advantage of your resources. Even so, as that article has mentioned, people are also trying to battle it out with the hackers with good hackers. Security software companies are continually trying to improve their products in order to provide people with good services. That is a good thing and so we shouldn’t forget to keep in mind the protection services that we can acquire if ever we need it for our cyber security. With the fact that humans are unpredictable, ideas as mentioned in the article should be used to prevent or at least try to lessen cybercrime by teaching and reminding others to protect their connection. As the growing peers of the internet usually conduct mischief, securing the technology of today should be held with importance. Perry, C. (2005, April 2005). Don’t Let Wardriving Expose Your Wireless Network . News and Views . Much more people are getting into the activity of driving around and searching for unsecured networks to hack into and pretty much look into files and information that they do not own and use internet connection which is not theirs. This is called wardriving. By using legal technology, people are able to access connection points within range and use them for their own advantages. Although seemingly harmless, this kind of activity can also be used to steal private information and make a mess if ever someone has the ability and interest in doing such bad things. Wardriving is a real situation that happens in the course of everyday life for some people. As mentioned in the article, keeping an open network might be able to help others in need but it can also bring harm to the subscriber if ever an outside person uses his or her connection for doing illegal things. As a result, the owner might be accused of a crime that he or she did not commit. The only limit of this kind of activity is a protected connection that denies the attempts of usage of unauthorized sources. The only way to be sure is to secure the gateway for connections. People should be educated about protecting what is theirs especially their private and cyber information. Securing a network is not a hard thing to do but is indeed often neglected due to laziness and ignorance as told by the article, so you should not join in to that category. You should do as you should do what you are supposed to do in order to be secured. That is the only way to help minimize such misuse of technology. Bibliography Cotler, S. (2009 , July 10). Wireless Cybercriminals Target Clueless Vacationers. Fox News . Marriott, M. (2006, March 5). Hey Neighbour, Stop piggybacking on my Wireless. New York Times . Perry, C. (2005, April 2005). Don’t Let Wardriving Expose Your Wireless Network . News and Views . Thompson, C. (2012, July 30). Innocent Man Accused Of Child Pornography After Neighbour Pirates His Wi-Fi . Huff Post Tech . Read More