Unsecured Wi-Fi to Become Illegal?

Discussion in 'News' started by tripwire45, Nov 6, 2005.

  1. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Unsecured Wi-Fi to Become Illegal?



    Given a recent thread in The Lounge, I thought this story somewhat appropriate.

    According to a new proposal being considered by a suburb of New York City, any business or home office with an open wireless connection but no separate server to fend off Internet attacks would be violating the law.

    Politicians in Westchester County are urging adoption of the law--which appears to be the first such legislation in the U.S.--because without it, "somebody parked in the street or sitting in a neighboring building could hack into the network and steal your most confidential data," County Executive Andy Spano said in a statement.

    The draft proposal offered this week would compel all "commercial businesses" with an open wireless access point to have a "network gateway server" outfitted with a software or hardware firewall. Such a firewall, used to block intrusions from outside the local network, would be required even for a coffee shop that used an old-fashioned cash register instead of an Internet-linked credit card system that could be vulnerable to intrusions.

    To read the whole story, click Here
     
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Comments

    1. hbroomhall
      hbroomhall
      Given the complete non-comprehension of the issue from the general public do you expect this to 1) get on the books, 2) get adopted anywhere else? :D

      Harry (who has spent a fair amount of today trying to explain the problem to people who have only a hazy idea what wireless is)
    2. Bluerinse
      Bluerinse
      Hmmm, seems somewhat odd to me.

      Why do you *need* a separate server to act as a firewall? For example, SBS Premium edition comes with ISA. ISA is a really good product and one of it's many roles is that of a statesful firewall. Mine is connected to a wireless router that also has firewall and NAT enabled, adding further protection. This wouldn't satisfy their legislation!

      If I can't fully understand what they are talking about, I doubt the politicians can :eek:
    3. Fergal1982
      Fergal1982
      That doesnt make sense!!!! a coffee shop using an old fashioned cash register would have absolutely no use for something like that. looks to me like they screwed that sentence up. hopefully.

      Phoenix
    4. ffreeloader
      ffreeloader
      I have to wonder about this too. It is my understanding from talking to several merchants that the credit/debit card readers are hooked into dedicated phone lines that dial and connect everytime they authenticate a transaction. What could they possibly have to do with a broadband internet connection?

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