Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case

Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case
Kevin Poulsen, SecurityFocus 2004-08-05

In what prosecutors say is likely the first criminal conviction for wardriving in the U.S., a Michigan man plead guilty Wednesday to a federal misdemeanor for using the Internet through an open wi-fi access point at a Lowe's home improvement store in suburban Detroit.

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Third guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-05
Anonymous (2 replies)

Timmins is a little unlucky in my view, although I can't say I agree with the cyberlaw solicitor's view:

"Using an open wireless access point isn't the same thing as using a computer illegally"

Silly thing to check HIS email, though! ...

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Third guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-11
Anonymous

First things first, this story makes me sick because of the focus of the story and the lack of blame and shame that should be placed on Lowes. I don't condone what the boys did but I also think that the gross negligence of Lowes is reprehensible. How convenient for them to play the "victim" and di...

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Third guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-13
deijmaster (at) hotmail (dot) com [email concealed]

Nothing silly in checking your email or not. This is an exemplary gesture just to show the community that they are active. I am very disappointed in this approach. You are innocent until proven guilty, but with cyber laws, they rely on logs collected from basic access points that have little or no i...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-06
Anonymous (2 replies)

Wardriving in and of itself should not be considered a crime. 1) Open wireless access points are like leaving your keys in the door to your house or car and walking away: they're asking for "intruders". 2) Wireless itself, due to being broadcasted into the air, should (in my opinion) be declared p...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-06
Anonymous (2 replies)

> 1) Open wireless access points are like leaving your keys

> in the door to your house or car and walking away: they're

> asking for "intruders".

Yet the intruders would still be guilty of breaking and entering, regardless.

> 2) Wireless itself, due to being broadcasted into the air,

> sh...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-06
Anonymous

>> 2) Wireless itself, due to being broadcasted into the air,

>> should (in my opinion) be declared public domain, as is

>> the case where you can freely record FM radio broadcasts.

>So I can record your cellphone conversations?

Cellphones are encrypted, you can't just pick them up over the...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-09
Anonymous (2 replies)

>.> 1) Open wireless access points are like leaving your keys

>> in the door to your house or car and walking away: they're

>> asking for "intruders".

>Yet the intruders would still be guilty of >breaking and entering, regardless.

An unfair analogy, to say the least. Many wirelessly enabl...

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Wrong analogy - Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe&#39;s wi-fi case 2004-08-12
Anonymous

Bad analogy - Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe&#39;s wi-fi case 2004-08-12
Anonymous

>>.> 1) Open wireless access points are

>> > like leaving keys in the door to your

>> > house or car and walking away: they're

>> > asking for "intruders".

>> Yet the intruders would still be guilty

>> breaking and entering, regardless.

> An unfair analogy, to say the least. ...

> Th...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-09
Anonymous

> Wardriving in and of itself should not be

> considered a crime. 1) Open wireless access > points are like leaving your keys in the

> door to your house or car and walking away: > they're asking for "intruders".

Not a good analogy.

> 2) Wireless itself, due to being

> broadcasted into ...

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banned from computers in 2004? 2004-08-06
Anonymous

How can you ban someone from computers in 2004. They are in every part of our society. It's like banning someone from using electricity.

...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-06
Anonymous

It depends on how the system was configured. If it was completely unprotected and sending out beacon frames, I don't think it completely unreasonable to assume that it might be provided for public use....

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-06
Anonymous

Being charged with "unauthorized access to a protected computer", by accessing an unprotected access point? What protection? That's just wrong....

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-06
Anonymous (2 replies)

I agree with the legal analyst. The guilty conviction is questionable. IF this conviction stand, does it mean when you walk by a house and the occupant of the house has the TV on and you watch it. Does it mean you have committed a crime too?...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-06
Anonymous

I think a better analogy might be turning on your AM radio and picking up your neighbors phone call.

Think of this possiblity....some naive person fires up their wifi enabled XP laptop in the parking lot. Let us imagine that they have it setup to use any available network...they have a cluttered...

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Yup... Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-12
Anonymous

Theft of cable services. Don't give Adelphia any ideas!...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-06
Anonymous (1 replies)

If their security team knew what they were doing they would have had their access points locked down.

Neglegence on someone's behalf should NOT allow prosecution of someone that happened upon it. Being as young as he is, it probably didnt occur to him to email the company and let them know their...

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Why didn't they lock it down sooner? 2004-08-10
K

Even after finding out there there were some intrusions, how hard would it have been to just lock those down? They instead left it open and vulnerable to see how much deeper trouble the kids could get themselves into.

I think that's terrible, and definitely feel for Timmins. Wardriving with the...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-09
Anonymous

Just goes to show that if you that the big guy will always try to crush the little guy, guilty or not, to save face. How the hell can you now get sentanced based on what kind of damage something could have potentially done? 2.5 million in damage because of stolen credit card numbers. talk about ge...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-09
Anonymous

i think what's being overlooked here is the actual meaning of the term "wardriving" which is the act of scanning, just to see what is out there. but NOT connecting. timmons connected. knowingly or not that it was public, once he connected, he broke from wardriving. a most excellent way to deliniate ...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-10
Anonymous

The difference between tapping cellphones and Wifi is the Cellphones are using Licensed Regulaterd Spectrum that the Telco's pay millions sometimes billions to aquire from the FCC. Wifi, is unlicensed, public use spectrum uder the FCC Part 15, or ISM bands. Technically, not for use by coporations. S...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-11
JayEm

Child molesters get less time than these guys will. That is how retarded the Federal Sentencing guidelines are. They take away 99% of the federal judge's power to make a judgement call which is their job. 12-15 years is a very extreme sentence for computer crimes of any type. Might as well put a mon...

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Id10t - Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-11
Anonymous

If your gonna peek in use something to protect yourself. Morons at Lowes should be charged with endangering their cutomers information if you ask me. I think it's funny how no one has gone after them instead. It seems to me that the would-be "wardrivers" did them a favor for their retarded network a...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-11
Anonymous

There are no major corporations buying their way into gov't to increase the sentences of Child Molesters. But you bet you they will fight for things that affect them.

At what point will it be a crime to "accidently" expose consumers to probelms. At what point will a Lowes be in the wrong, MORE...

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Damage vs. Sentence 2004-08-12
Anonymous (1 replies)

Think for a moment about the relation between the actual harm (six credit card numbers stolen, none of them used, and the cost for the company for intrusion analysis and cleanup/repair of their systems - maybe other backdoors installed) versus sentence - 10 years up.

This is US-American madness.
...

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Re: Damage vs. Sentence 2008-05-23
Anonymous

I agree... The U.S. is becomming very punnitive -- I'm not sure how much longer I want to stay. It's just turning to shite....

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What a waste of resources (was: Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case) 2004-08-12
flat1ine

Why did the Lowe's network admins simply secure the WAP? Did they not know how to do it?...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-13
Anonymous (1 replies)

Cyberlaw lawyer Jennifer Granick's comment: Does it mean that if someone breaks into my house and watches TV but doesn't steal,rob, damage or destroy anything, it does not amount to a criminal offence?...

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Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2004-08-15
Anonymous (1 replies)

well if you leave your door unlocked yes...

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Re: Wardriving guilty plea in Lowe's wi-fi case 2005-07-26
Anonymous

The justice system in this country is in a shambles. A nine year sentence for this crime is beyond unreasonable. What good are our tax dollars doing paying for his incarceration for this length of time? I think 2 - 3 years would be reasonable, fair and enough time for him to "learn his lesson". God...

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I was arrested just recently for a similar charge. 2005-12-13
domoarigatomr_legato (at) hotmail (dot) com [email concealed]

On friday, Dec. 2nd i got arrested in Painesville, OH in a similar situation. I was parked outside my closed laundromat, using a wi-fi signal [which i have used before] that i assumed was a service provided by the business, since it was completely unsecured and labeled as the default name linksys. E...

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