Colorado Sheriffs To WarDrive For Safety

rwx writes "The Sheriff's Department in Douglas County, Colorado says it's going to start warning computer users that their networks may be vulnerable to hackers. It plans on equipping its patrol cars with devices that detect unprotected computer networks, and distributing brochures to computer users in vulnerable areas, instructing them on how to password protect their networks."

What would happen...

[OctoberSky]

What would happen if they came to my house? I have a open network (really an access point). We share no files between computers and if someone (neighbors, friends, guys in cars out front) wants to hop on my signal I couldn't care less.

They can get online and I invite them too (network is titled "OPENNETWORK"). I wonder how the cops would respond if I told them that I purposely set it up to allow people to wardrive onto my internets?

People who want to share?

[SydShamino]

What do you want to bet that the police will hassle the first person who:
A) has permission from their service provider to offer a Wifi hot spot,
B) wants to leave it open for the public, and
C) tells this to the police officer who tries to give him a brochure?

Hackers?

[Gates82]

I love how the articles makes it sound like you need to be a hacker to connect and access the web through someone else's open access point. As has been argued many times, when you leave a WAP wide open you are infact authorizing anyone who connects the privilege of using that network. A request is made and access is given, but using the Windows Wireless Connection utility to connect would hardly be hacking.

--

So who is hotter? Ali or Ali's Sister?

This isn't their 'department'...

[TheDarkener]

What do Sheriffs care about peoples' wireless network devices? Unless I'm bashing my wife over the head with my access point, I don't want a Sheriff to even tell me what to do with my freggin' network.

What's next? Are they going to start testing peoples' front doors to see if they're unlocked? Again, it's none of their business, and it's wasting taxpayer money. Stick to your department, which is upholding the law.

Re:how long

[v1]

I leave my WAP open. (of course I have set the administrator's password though) My wap's SSID is "call (my phone number)". So far I've only gotten one call but there are about 1/2 dozen regular users and the odd hit from a new MAC about once a week.

The bandwidth they use is inconsequential. I suppose if a neighbor decided to go wild on bittorrent or something I might have to take action, but for now it's free lunch if you're in my neighborhood. That's the way I'd like it to be everywhere, so it makes sense for me to help it along in any way I can.

The city next door has a public utility that does cable modems among other things. They have set up WAPs on street lights all over town, and if you have cable modem service you can use it to login to any WAP in the city. Coverage is pretty good, close to 100% downtown. It'd be nice if they would support it with tax dollars and open it up completely, but that's not terribly likely to happen. Maybe in a few years.

Observations from WarBussing

[Hannah E. Davis]

I'm actually surprised that they didn't do this sooner. There are a hell of a lot of unsecured wireless networks in any city, and it's not like the cops are peeking into anything that isn't incredibly public already. As an experiment, I once spent an entire bus ride home repeatedly scanning for wireless networks on my DS. Most of the ones I found were unprotected, including one which even had the word "secure" (written in l33t, no less) as part of its name. Unfortunately, all of the networks with particularly interesting or creative names were secure, including one called "No free internet for you", and another with the particularly clever moniker of "I steal credit card numbers." Gotta wonder what the cops would think of that one...

Re:This is what real cops do

[alshithead]

In a lot jurisdictions you can get your local police department to come and give a security inspection of your property. They'll look at lighting, locks, shrubbery, etc. If they were just adding this as an item on to their checklist for the service the already offer, I think it wouldn't bother me so much.

Re:how long

[2short]

Better be careful, and don't be nice to strangers, or some completely improbable bad thing might occur! Be afraid! Be afraid!

I can pick up 5-6 access points from my house. All are locked down except for one named "BeMyGuest"; I've used it a few times when my connection has been down, and when I figured out who's it was, I invited them to my barbecue. So I hereby counter your hypothetical, not very logical threat of an FBI raid, with the actual, already realized threat of: Free Beer.

Re:What would happen...

[RealGrouchy]

Laws regarding internet access and control of them are terribly stupid.

Maybe (maybe), it should be necessary for prosecution to demonstrate that the computer accessing the internet at the time had the same MAC address as one you have in your possession.

If I left a shopping cart unlocked in my front driveway, and put a sign on it saying, "feel free to borrow this, but please return it when you're done", do you really think I'd be held responsible if someone used it to bash old ladies in the street?

- RG>

Pickpockets

[teasea]

Actually there was story I read once where the sign 'Beware of pickpockets' was put up by pickpockets. The people would see the sign and check the pocket with their wallet in it. Then the pickpockets knew which pocket to pick.

Amusing actually.

As a resident of Douglas County

[pico303]

I've lived in Douglas County for almost ten years now, and let me just say it's a great place to live. I was not surprised to see this story, though a little worried that the secret of our little county south of Denver will get out to the rest of the world.

Douglas County Sheriff's motto should be, "We still remember when the police used to care." They aren't about pulling over speeders. They nod, smile, and say hello when you walk by, and are always happy to have a chat in the local Starbucks (especially if you're buying :-). They pull over to help stranded motorists. A couple of winters ago we dug through the feet of snow from our end while they dug from their's in the middle of the night to get a pregnant neighbor to the hospital to give birth. They help out with traffic control in front of the churches on Sundays. They provide patrol for the local movie theaters, and are always friendly and helpful. I even had one hold my drink and help me figure out the right theater screen one night! Plus they offer a service where if you're going out of town, let them know and they'll send extra patrols on a daily basis by your house to make sure everything is safe.

It's not just the Sheriff's Dept., though. We also have great schools and libraries. My daughter is starting middle school in the fall, and we found out that she gets a set of books for school and a set for home, so her backpack doesn't get too heavy. Our libraries carry the latest and greatest books, not only fiction, but--as a programmer, this is a plus--the latest computer books as well (Lucene in Action, Learning Cocoa with Objective C, etc.). Latest DVDs available also.

Along with great services, we've got outstanding bike trails, golf courses, a small but decent lake, and horse ranches. Something for everyone.

This is the place people talk about when they're looking for a great place to raise a family.

P.S. No, I don't personally know and deputies or their families, nor do I know any real estate brokers. Having come out here from California, I know how to appreciate a good thing when I see it.