Originally published on the APC Mag website.
Original URL: http://apcmag.com/Content.aspx?id=4161
POLICE GO ON PATROL FOR OPEN WI-FI NETWORKS
By David Flynn
21 July 2009, 10:15 PM
Queensland Police will soon add unprotected wireless networks to the Sunshine State’s ‘most wanted’ list.
A police car slowly cruises down your street, its occupants on the lookout not for break-and-enter robberies or drug dealers but an open signal from the wireless network in a nearby home or business.
Welcome to the latest initiative from the Queensland Police Department – or, to be specific, the Fraud Squad, which now considers unprotected Wi-Fi networks to be a source of fraud and identity theft.
Sydney Morning Herald journalist Asher Moses reports that the Queensland initiative appears to be the first of its kind in the world.
The Police Department is primed for criticism that cruising for vulnerable wireless routers isn’t exactly core to its mission. “It’s not about catching the bad guys as much as limiting their area of operations” said spokesman Detective Superintendent Hay.
“If we save mum, grandma and grandpa from losing their life savings, having their identity stolen or losing their kids’ inheritance … you ask them if they think it’s a good use of police time and resources”.
Hay claims that fraudsters are already using satellite maps to chart suburban areas with a high number of open wireless networks ripe for the picking.
The report says the Fraud Squad will be “calling on the private sector to help out with equipment and expertise”.
Having found an open wireless network, however, it’s unknown exactly how they will detect precisely which home, apartment, townhouse or business office in a multi-story commercial block the signal is coming from.
Originally published on the APC Mag website.
Original URL: http://apcmag.com/Content.aspx?id=4161