Digital Home Thoughts: Internet Surfers Like It When Neighbours Share

"Conducted by Wakefield Research in conjunction with the Wi-Fi Alliance, the results out this week found that 32 percent of those polled admit to trying to hop onto an unsecure Wi-Fi network that wasn't theirs. Some say they've done it only once while others reveal they've done it many times."

Naughty, naughty! I am sure it seems harmless enough for most people. They just absolutely, positively, have to get Internet access so they can upload the cure for cancer that they have found on a laptop they just happened to come across. The world needs to know! In some ways, I am not surprised. A lot of people have become to attached to the Internet that if there is a convenient way to get access, they will do so, even if doing so is not... polite.

I am kind of surprised that there are still so many open access points. Most routers these days, and for the past few years, default to some sort of encryption for wireless, so that suggests to me that some people have some really aging routers on their hands. Of course, with the increasing use of 3/4/5/20G networks will people still crave the need to hop onto unprotected Wi-Fi hotspots as much?