Nerd’s Words (sm)

You walk into Starbucks with your laptop under your arm. You’ve seen all the cool people there working on their laptops while drinking their Venti Blueberries and Cream Frappuccinos and now it’s time for you to be cool too.

You open your screen and it tells you “Wireless Networks Detected” just like it should. You click to connect, and Oh NO! They want an access code! They want money to use the darn WiFi at Starbucks! To heck with them! You see another wireless network in your laptop and it’s open and you connect to it and you’re on the Internet without having to pay! You think “Eff you Starbucks!” Now you are cool too.

Ooops.

Didn’t your mother ever tell you never to talk to strangers?
21st century moms need to tell their kids: Never internet through strangers.

That free wireless network you’re connected to (and this is no reflection on Starbucks by the way) was put there by the bad guys. While you send your e-mail and browse the Web, the bad guys are recording everything that goes in and out. Want to know how your competitors got your client list? Now you know. Some hacker sold it to them from your e-mail.

To test this out, I took my little laptop to a nearby Starbucks, plopped myself down at a table, and looked for a wireless network to connect to. Sure enough, there were two. One was the store’s. The free one was not.

This can happen anywhere you wirelessly connect.

Since WiFi is available everywhere nowadays, you need to be aware that just because you can connect doesn’t mean you should. Ask for the name of the network where you’re WiFi-ing and connect to that one and not any other one you might be able to see. There are dragons out there.

-LLiioonneell