Home wireless networks are more susceptible to bandwidth poaching than wired networks because the signal often reaches outside of your home. This makes it easier for hackers or war drivers (people who locate and connect to unsecured wireless networks) to sit outside your home and connect to your network. Your neighbor might be accidentally connecting to your network instead of his own (known as piggybacking) and thereby using some of your valuable bandwidth. Or if you happen to live next door to an unethical person, they might cancel their own Internet account and deliberately connect to yours to save money!
To avoid these scenarios, you should implement security measures on your wireless network. The video below from the Get Connected TV show shows you some simple measures to take to protect your wireless network from unwanted "guests."
Discussion Questions for Students:
1) Have you ever logged onto a wireless network without the owner's permission (such as a neighbor)? Do you think there is anything unethical about "sharing" bandwidth with your neighbor (at their expense)?
2) If you have a wireless network at home, have you implemented security measures such as the ones mentioned in the video or listed on the Practically Networked web site?
3) Do you have a firewall installed on your network? Is it turned on? Do you know what a firewall does and why you should have one? If not, find out at the firewall section of How Stuff Works!
4) Have you tested your network to see if it is secure? If not, try the ShieldsUP test at Gibson Research. What were the results? If your network is not secure, what could you do to make it more secure?
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