UK STUDY: Nearly Half of Wi-Fi Networks Unsecure

Illustrates the problems the govt will have in properly enforcing the country’s Digital Economy Act, and the challenges it faces in ensuring those accused of illegal file-sharing are actually guilty of the crime.

One of the biggest concerns critics of the UK’s Digital Economy Act have had is the fact that peoples’ Wi-Fi connections are susceptible to hijacking by third parties, and therefore potentially liable for any copyright infringement activities they conduct on the network.
So it’s important to once again point out the results of a recent study that confirms many of the country’s Wi-Fi connections are improperly secured.
According to an “ethical hacking” experiment conducted on behalf of the CPPGroup, a “leading provider of Life Assistance products and services,” nearly 40,000 Wi-Fi networks across six UK cities were revealed to be “high risk,” and almost half of all the networks surveyed can be hacked in less than five seconds.
“This report is a real eye-opener in highlighting how many of us have a cavalier attitude to wi-fi use, despite the very real dangers posed by unauthorized use,” said Michael Lynch, Identity fraud expert from CPP.
The study focuses on the harm that unsecure Wi-Fi networks can mean for individuals in allowing others to improperly access private emails, social networks, online banking sites and even to assume the online identity of their victim, but left out is the concern that they could also be falsely accused of copyright infringement.
The country’s Digital Economy Act will eventually require ISPs to send warning letters to subscribers warning them they have been accused of illegal file-sharing – the third letter resulting in Internet disconnection a la “three-strikes.” The letters are scheduled to begin this December.
An unsecure Wi-Fi network means many will be wrongly targeted, apparently as many as half if you believe the results if this study, and likely will do little to curb copyright infringement, but anger many erstwhile paying customers.
UK ISP TalkTalk carried out a similar study last October and had nearly identical results – 41% of Wi-Fi connections were vulnerable to hijacking.
The study once again proves that an IP address in no way identifies an individual anymore than a bus ticket does. All it confirms is that somebody was present at a specific location and traveled to a certain destination, but never at anytime does it says who it was.
There’s a big storm of “superhighway robbery” brewing and it remains to be seen if the public – or the govt for that matter – are truly prepared.
With the UK music industry, arguably the biggest proponent of disconnecting illegal file-sharers, boasting back to back years of record profits, perhaps it’s high time the govt revisit the Act, especially being it was hurried through with little debate.