A recent radio program illustrated just how prevalent wardriving is. The DJs
asked local residents to call in and confess to “borrowing” someone else’s
wireless network. The show was inundated with calls ranging from those who
intentionally or accidentally accessed private or business wireless networks.
One caller confessed to occupying a restaurant bathroom stall as she accessed
her email, all the while keeping her date waiting.
The arguments over wardriving are just as prolific as the users themselves.
Many states are enacting laws against accessing computer networks without permission.
(In Utah, for instance, it is a
class B misdemeanor, while in Florida;
Benjamin Smith III was charged with a third-degree felony for unauthorized
accessing of computer networks.) Wardrivers and others have spoken out against
defining their activities as crimes. Though they technically are accessing a
service that they have not paid for, their arguments revolve around the
philosophy that because the owner of the service has not done anything to limit
access, then the owner is providing it as a free service to others.
Unfortunately, most wireless network owners are ignorant of this free service
that they are unwittingly providing.
Many wardrivers also state that by mapping out and posting locations of open
wireless networks, they are helping developers of such hard- and software to
provide an even better service. This Robin Hood mentality does little by way of
protecting those people who utilize wireless networks from the malicious
intentions of some wardrivers seeking access to open networks.
On the other side of the debate sit those who adamantly maintain that
accessing a network without permission is an invasion of privacy as well as
theft. Multiple computers accessing your wireless network can rob you of
bandwidth and slow down your connection, and, while most internet providers
have moved beyond the days of purchasing internet access in terms of prepaid
minutes, other people accessing the internet through your server uses up the
benefits you have paid for. Much like a neighbor plugging power cords into your
outlets.