Network Stumbler

Ruth and I were given the coordinates of 2nd South where it meets the Gateway mall. The laptop we used had a very short wireless range and so our results were few compared to other classmates assigned to the Gateway. Network Stumbler found 15 wireless networks in range, of which 5 were open/unsecure.

It’s interesting to me to find out that 5 out of 15 of the businesses we sampled (that’s 33%) had no security on their wireless routers. A good number of these are very likely connected to computers with sensitive customer information on them. They’re just making it that much easier for a cracker to steal sensitive information from them.

I was also thinking how unless it’s meant to be a public wifi access point, these unsecured wireless networks are absolutely not be run by anyone that knows the first thing about information security. It’s very basic knowledge that, especially in places of business, you should protect your sensitive data with secure connections. I think the more businesses are forced to adopt information technologies the more emphasis there will be on information security. So in the near future I would guess that the percentage of unsecured wireless networks in places of businesses will drop significantly.