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Illinois WiFi freeloader fined US$250

Contemplating the use of your neighbor's unprotected access point? You might want to think twice if you live in Illinois.

An Illinois man pleaded guilty this week to remotely accessing another computer system without the owner's approval and was handed one year of court supervision and a US$250 fine. David Kauchak was spotted using his laptop inside of his parked car in the middle of the night by a police officer this past January. The officer discovered that Kauchak was using an unprotected wireless access point belonging to a not-for-profit agency and cited him.

Kauchak is not the first person in the US to be convicted for unauthorized access of a WiFi network. Last year, a Florida man was convicted of unauthorized access to a computer network, a third-degree felony after being arrested under circumstances similar to those of Kauchak.

According to Winnebago County State's Attorney Paul Logli, unauthorized access of a WAP is illegal in Illinois, even if the network is unprotected. Those who succumb to the temptation of unauthorized free WiFi face the possibility of a year in jail in addition to fines. Logli also had this warning:

"With the increasing use of wireless computer equipment, the people of Winnebago County need to know that their computer systems are at risk. They need to use encryption or what are known as firewalls to protect their data, much the same way locks protect their homes."

Although his locks-and-homes illustration is a bit simplistic, Logli does make an important point about securing both your home computer and your network. If someone is leeching your WiFi connection, you have only yourself to blame.

In the background lurks the issue of the ethics of leeching. I know I am not the only one who has been tempted by an open access point to the point of logging on to check e-mail, do some surfing, or even get some work done. Columnist Jeffrey Seglin argued recently that there is nothing wrong with using an open WAP if you don't have to do any hacking to get on, while a recent New York Times op-ed piece went as far as to say that leaving your WiFi network unprotected is a public service.

Related to the question of open networks is that of liability. If someone is using your unprotected network for BitTorrent or other forms of file sharing, are you at risk legally? Probably not, but I Am Not A Lawyer. ISPs are not liable for the actions of their users, and it would seem that the same principle would apply to those with an open access point. Personally, I keep my home network locked down, and with consumer-grade WAPs so easy to administer, there's really no excuse for leaving them running with the default (open) settings.

Wardriving can be fun, and the temptation to take advantage of an unsecured wireless access point can be strong. But given the two convictions in Florida and Illinois during the last nine months, I think I'm going to resist the lure of surreptitious, free WiFi.

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