Is YOUR wireless network secure

At my house my PC can detect 6 wireless networks. Two of them are not secured and I can attach and use their internet connection. One of them even has a shared folder and a shared printer. The shared folder is empty but I could have some fun with the printer. Two out of six is not a big enough sample to be statistically significant but it’s consistent with what a hacker found when he did some “research” at a hacker convention in Las Vegas. He sent a network sniffer 150 feet into the air on a balloon. He was able to scan networks in a 7 ½ mile radius. He detected thousands of wireless networks and 1/3 of them were not secured. ONE THIRD!!! The thing is; it’s so easy to secure a wireless network. Maybe I should send a polite message to my neighbor’s printer saying that I will setup their wireless security for free.

The hacker’s story is interesting and entertaining: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/081008-covert-operation-floats-network-sniffing.html?hpg1=bn