(Note: My comments will be in red.)
Case in point, meet 41-year-old Benjamin Smith III from Florida. CNN is reporting that Smith is facing 3rd-degree felony charges after using his laptop to access a St. Petersburg resident's wireless Internet network without permission. According to the police, Smith was seen by Richard Dinon outside Dinon's home on the night of April 20, 2005, sitting in a parked SUV and using a laptop computer. When Dinon went outside to deposit his trash, Smith quickly closed the laptop and tried to hide it (too suspicious acting). Dinon also stated that he later observed foreign icons on his home computer screen (sloppy rookie mistake by Smith) and suspected that Smith may have been using his network. He called police and an officer confronted Smith at 11:30PM, two hours after the initial sighting.
The arresting officer wasn't initially sure a violation took place (I can believe that). He had to consul legal staff and they looked up the relevant statute. The charge, unauthorized access to a computer network, applies to all varieties of computer network breaches and gives prosecutors considerable leeway depending on the severity. It carries a potential sentence ranging from probation to 5 years in prison (a little stiff I think when you compare it to more serious crimes)! Smith faces a pretrial hearing on Monday, July 11. The sentence will depend on whether he was accessing the Internet for basic personal use or using it for pecuniary gain - like identity theft or other illicit reasons (music/movie/software piracy, hacking etc). Smith's motives in using the network are unclear, but the laptop was confiscated from him (no net for him now either :P ) at the time of arrest and will be analyzed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
The article went on to talk about how Florida believes it's only the 3rd case of unauthorized wireless access in the state (wake up, I can assure you it's not only the 3rd case, it's only the 3rd case that YOU have caught). Wireless networks are becoming more prevalent with the spread of broadband Internet access and many consumers are not aware of how to configure their networks to avoid unauthorized access. Law enforcement is behind the curve in confronting computer crime. Wireless networks are only just starting to be recognized. More and more people are buying wireless routers and not educating themselves about the consequences. People are very haphazard about security and the stakes are high.
In short, don't expect this problem to go away anytime soon. People in general are lazy and too over confident in thinking they are safe (can you say 9-11?). They don't want to take a few minutes to educate themselves on the technology they are using and they leave all the settings to default which is the equivalent of leaving your house key sticking out of your front door knob. Hackers know these default logins by heart. Hell, I can even recite the top ones for you. The whole idea of a router and going wi-fi is not only for connivance, but also for SECURITY. It you fail to make it secure by locking it down properly, then you are defeating one of the main purposes of the equipment to being with. You are now actually LESS SECURE and more open to attacks. So in a way I don't feel bad for this Dinon guy. He was stupid and in over his head when it came to tech gadgets, but lucky for him he was in the right place at the right time to catch the intruder. Then again Smith was a true rookie by leaving icons laying around on the target system. He was sloppy and suspicious, bound to get caught sooner or later. I feel if you don't want to learn how to use something properly, then don't use it at all. If you can't follow that rule, then don't be surprised or shocked when something bad happens to you.
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