SHAKE YOUR HEAD NOW
From News.com comes this story that opens as follows:
"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 full press release from the County can be seen here.
It comes with the obligatory, expense-adding paperwork for businesses large and small, for after they've "secured" their wireless networks, they're required to
"...file a note of compliance with the county."
I'd love to see the genesis of this bright idea of a bill.
There's no question that WiFi networks need to be secure, whether it's for personal or business use. But there are countless ways our networks can be more secure, most being addressed by the marketplace.
Legislating the purchase of additional equipment/software as a requirement for all potential nodes on a network is a far less efficient way to go about it than working with the relatively few network equipment manufacturers and internet service providers nationwide to come with effective solutions.
Most options to secure WiFi equipment today require more geeky knowledge than they should, especially for mainstream consumers, and require expensive outside technical help. These deficiencies are being addressed by the WiFi industry marketplace, with next generation products being easier to secure by default.
Pursuing this at a local county level seems like whistling in the wind and a bit quixotic at best.
What will they go after next, open, unsecured Bluetooth devices?
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