[ale] About Wireless Connectivity

[Jim Popovitch]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ale-admin at ale.org [mailto:ale-admin at ale.org]On Behalf Of Bob Toxen
> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2003 3:01 PM
>
> The two problems with this reasoning are:
>
> 1. They can break into your boxes and get your passwords that
>    you use for online shopping and banking.  Then you will
>    care a great deal. You'll care even more when you ask your
>    bank to return the money stolen out of your account and they
>    say "NO" because you were neglegent.

First, I do care, but many many others don't.  As for passwords they
probably could be guessed easier than gathered, and even then these people
just don't know enough to care, after all the logo on their bank's website
says: "Secure!".  And as for the bank itself, they just return the money and
don't ask any questions.  Seriously.

>
> 2. Crackers will use your bandwidth to attack others' networks.
>    Besides this being a bad net citizen, victims of such attacks
>    are starting to sue those whose neglegence allowed their
>    networks to be used.

Things like this have been going on (continuously) for the last decade.  I
lost count of the number of hits from worms/bots that come from unknowing PC
users (who could care less if they were a good or bad netizen).  As for
bandwidth, these people don't care as it is downstream bandwidth that
interests them not upstream bandwidth.  Yes there is a point where lack of
upstream bandwidth impacts these people, but the last thing they think of at
that point is their PC... they blame their ISP.

>
> 3. Some ISPs will shut you down or even claim damages (read the fine print
>    in your contract).

But they don't.  The number one complaint of a DoS'ed host's admin is "The
ISPs won't take any action".


Apathy runs wild in the community of Internet users, and nobody has yet been
successful at making any one of them responsible in a manner that motivates
the rest.

-Jim P.










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