Perhaps providing free internet access to your neighbors and passersby
doesn’t concern you. It is, after all, a very neighborly thing to do.
Regardless of your feelings, you should also be aware of the dangers.
Leaving your wireless network open for others to infiltrate not only grants
access to the internet, but also to any files stored on or shared over the
network. Anyone who accesses that network can open any file, download their
contents, and save it to their computer—all without you knowing it. That means
personal information such as bank accounts, credit card numbers, identification
records, or even customer data if your business uses unsecured wireless
networks are free game.
Open wireless networks also provide a playground for more nefarious
activities. Less than honest wardrivers could access your network to download
or upload any files. These files could contain anything from child pornography
to terrorist threats to hate literature. They could send out thousands of spam
messages and viruses, or access any website without fear of being caught. The
sky is the limit. And the icing on the cake—for the wardriver—is that the
activity cannot be tracked back to him or her. It will, however, be tracked
back to the network owner. If that’s not enough to raise an eyebrow in concern,
consider that if a message containing a threat against the president is traced
back to your access point, you could be fined and sentenced to a five year
prison term—whether you wrote that message or not.
Finally, malicious wardrivers might access your wireless network with the
sole purpose of infecting your computer and network with damaging viruses.