The Network Security. Org

Going wireless at home? Beware of freeloaders

Piggybacking, the usually unauthorized tapping into someone else's wireless Internet connection, is no longer the exclusive domain of pilfering computer geeks or shady hackers. Ordinarily upstanding people are tapping in, too.

"I don't think it's stealing," said Edwin Caroso, a 21-year-old student at Miami Dade College in Miami, echoing an often-heard sentiment. "I always find people out there who aren't protecting their connection, so I just feel free to go ahead and use it."

Many who piggyback say the practice does not feel like theft because it does not seem to actually take anything away from anyone.

One occasional piggyback user recently compared it to "reading the newspaper over someone's shoulder."

But piggybacking, makers of wireless routers say, is increasingly an issue for users who live in densely populated areas or for anyone clustered in apartment buildings in which Wi-Fi radio waves, which have an average range of about 200 feet, or 60 meters, can easily bleed through walls, floors and ceilings. Hotels that offer the service have become bubbling brooks of free access that spill out into the neighborhood. Going wireless at home? Beware of freeloaders - Business - International Herald Tribune

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