Wireless Stupidity...

S

SKiTLz

2[H]4U
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Messages
2,664
Dont usually post this stuff but this ticked me off..

Theirs about 3-4 unsecured wireless networks I can see at work everyday. They've been their months and I just kind of ignored them.

Today I decided I'd let one of them know as their place was right next door too me. So over I head and start explaining to the receptionist. Of course she has no idea and calls their "inhouse tech guy".

This guy was a complete dick. He didn't even want to know about it. What kind of an inhouse tech cant setup a basic wap correctly.

So i figured, you wanna be a dick when im trying to help.. Fuck ya then.. Went back over to my work.. Jumped on my laptop and printed out about 50 pages of his customer invoices and info. Maybe not the best thing but his wireless is completely open, with all his shares full access.. Cmon.. Grow a fucking brain.

Took those pages and found his boss. Told him this is what your "tech" guy is leaving open and isn't willing to fix.... The tech didn't care but the boss sure as hell did when he saw the pages I'd printed...

Just a quick story for you folks.. :D These type of people piss me off. If you dont know something and need help fine. But when someone offers it you dont act like a dick and be mucho while every document your company has is wide open..

Not to mention their in house file server is accessible from the WLAN. Put that thing behind a firewall or something.

Their lucky Im the one that found it and not someone malicous (not to say someone else hasn't). If I wanted to I could have gone nuts and just destroyed their business. Maybe they would have paid an extra $10 an hr for someone that could do the job then... :rolleyes:

EDIT: Ohh did I mention his WAP password is still the default "admin".. :rolleyes:
 
That is one of the main problems of the computing industry today. Most employers value a computer Degree/hnd more than specific computer certifications. That company was very lucky that you showed them (whilst breaking the law) their network was venerable which is u say could have destroyed their business. Give it a few years and hopefully things will shape up.
 
Originally posted by Wiseguy2001
That is one of the main problems of the computing industry today. Most employers value a computer Degree/hnd more than specific computer certifications. That company was very lucky that you showed them (whilst breaking the law) their network was venerable which is u say could have destroyed their business. Give it a few years and hopefully things will shape up.
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while Im aware it was illegal to connect to their network, I kind of hope people will overlook that for the fact that Im trying to help them. Would they prefer I connect to find out who it is them let them know or someone else connect and use it for malicious activites?

Thats my line of thinking, right or wrong...
 
you should talk to the boss and get your self another job since it's just next door.
 
Originally posted by SKiTLz
while Im aware it was illegal to connect to their network, I kind of hope people will overlook that for the fact that Im trying to help them. Would they prefer I connect to find out who it is them let them know or someone else connect and use it for malicious activites?

Thats my line of thinking, right or wrong...
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I have no problems with what you did, you done the right thing, but next time at least get permission first, they could of sued you.

Later in the year im going to start my own business (various computer services), one that i would like to include is detecting open wireless networks and offering to secure then. Were it gets tricky is how you tell them and also once you have warned them their network is at risk and someone takes advantage of it, then i will be accused. I will look into this formally nearer the time.
 
Originally posted by Blitzrommel
Heh heh, I was thinking the same thing.
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The boss their didn't look to impressed with his "tech" guy. He has my number and knows were I work. I have a feeling he will contact me.

And Wiseguy2001. Your right. its a touchy thing. Especially when your dealing with non-tech inclined people. They think you've hacked them or something and just dont understand what your saying...

For anyone that travels with their laptop (myself) many will have their laptop to conneect to any available network (eg airports). Thats how mine is. So if they leave it wide open, no mac filtering, no wep, no wpa.. No nothing.. I hardly see how it is illegal..
 
[grammarpolice]

Venerable? It's VULNERABLE

Could of? Its could have.

The first offense is the worst one because the COMPLETELY WRONG WORD WAS USED.
[/grammarpolice]

Anyway, If I was an IT manager for a business and had you come to me with that, I woulda found whoever set up that AP and promptly have him fired. I also would have done what that manager you spoke with did, thank you for the heads up, then go after the moron who wouldn't fix the problem.
 
Thank god the grammar police dont have a station in my city... They'd piss me right off.. :p

I didn't expect anyone to be fired or anything. Just trying to help. People wonder why everyone is so self motivated and not willing to help others these days.

Perfect example. Look what you get when you do try help.. A paper king piss off atitude.
 
That sort of attitude is usually a good indicator of how the firm operates as a whole. Far too many IT departments are understaffed, underfunded and overworked. If you find yet another problem for the IT guys to fix, many simply don't want to hear about it. It's not like IT lives in a world where people thank them, or praise them, or come by to say hello and make pleasant conversation. We live in a world where someone calls up and is flipping out because something broke and we have to fix it.

This isn't to say incompetence isn't rearing its head here; my experience is that most people in IT simply are not trained for what they're doing. Most of the rest are too stressed to be very effective, and a significant portion overall are truly incompetent. Too many people wind up in IT through the routes of informal training, being pressed into service since they own a machine and have fiddled with it for years, others simply have lots of certs and no real skill or problem solving capability, the ultimate in scripting, so to speak. At least a degree in CS/CIS shows you can bust your ass and think for yourself. Paper still isn't a guarantee, though.
 
Originally posted by Snugglebear
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Agreed. IT is a thankless job. We never get called when things are going right, we just get called when someone is flipping out cause their e-mail is the most important thing on the planet and they can't get to it from the coffee house across the street.

Being one of those non-degreed, non-certified, home-brewed admins, I can agree with what you're saying about a degree in CS/CIS showing you can at least think for yourself. Hey, at least I'm going to school...

SKiTLz, it sounds like you did the right thing. I work in a six-story building and we have wireless access points scattered throughout the building. Of course, we do what we can (WEP, don't advertise the SSID, etc.), but we can't force people to do access over VPN and block off wireless from the internal LAN without getting everyone's hackles up.

Below us is a company that has several Linksys WAPs with the default password, etc. We've told them repeatedly about the problem, yet they haven't bothered to fix it. So, instead of continuing to tell them, we just use their network for testing outside access to our network. Do you know how much time it's saved us? :)
 
lol, I'm shooting for a couple university UNIX/Win32 admin positions and everyone I talk to has said the same thing - are you really sure you want to work here in our IT department? Fortunately I've learned a few things over the years, and one of them is that you go to work expecting compensation in the form of money, experience, personal challenge, and lusty sophomores in tight tops. You're definitely not going to get much thanks from anyone, save the occasional end user/lusty sophomore. It's actually somewhat ironic since the guys I'm suppose to be talking with keep pushing things back due to crashes and backlogs. Right now it takes them over two weeks to respond to emails or phone calls.
 
I think the most fun is detecting WAPs at our college and every single one of them has had the default password. Since it's our own network they are broadcasting, I log right in mess it up, or i'm lazy just turn it off and change password. Then the most interesting part comes when they call the Help LIne at school and say their wireless access point isn't working, when they know it's against school policy to have one.

I think you did the right thing. Just think of how much money you just saved the company. If I had a been a customer of that company, I would have blown up at them for something like that.
 
Originally posted by Snugglebear
lol, I'm shooting for a couple university UNIX/Win32 admin positions and everyone I talk to has said the same thing - are you really sure you want to work here in our IT department? Fortunately I've learned a few things over the years, and one of them is that you go to work expecting compensation in the form of money, experience, personal challenge, and lusty sophomores in tight tops. You're definitely not going to get much thanks from anyone, save the occasional end user/lusty sophomore. It's actually somewhat ironic since the guys I'm suppose to be talking with keep pushing things back due to crashes and backlogs. Right now it takes them over two weeks to respond to emails or phone calls.
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Oddly enough, I'm working on a CS degree simply so I can find a University admin job. The corporate segment sucks and I tend to do well in the academic environment...I've been there before and I was amazed by the sheer lack of clue by some of the "admins" the University had.
 
well, if you read the job descriptions these days you have to wonder why `walks on water` isn't a requirement. the ones I've seen so far are entry positions, BS CS/CIS, 3-4 flavors of UNIX, same in Win32, sometimes Citrix, 4 or 5 DBMSes, knowledge of how to tear down PCs, Macs, laptops, servers, networks, wireless, and on and on and on. unfortunately for me I've had the training and the degree, just not the formal experience given that I'm technically a programmer, but with an admin degree (CIS). makes it fun to try and convince these guys, who I usually know more than, to give me a chance.
 
Originally posted by TrEpIdAtIoN

I think you did the right thing. Just think of how much money you just saved the company. If I had a been a customer of that company, I would have blown up at them for something like that.
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I actually considered (still am) contacting a few of their customers. These guys are by no means small. They have a number of corporate accounts. Im sure thatd love an email for me, the guy down the street with all their details and invoices for the past 3 years....

And I'll agree with the rest of you. IT is a thankless job just like you said. The problem is that most folks just dont understand. You have to understand something to appreciate it (for the most part)
 
I'm turning a resume in next monday for a tech job at a local School District just outside of town. Pretty plush school district too since they get all the tax money from the Heavy Industry NE of Amarillo.
 
Interesting Conversation. My first touch on wireless was with the company I'm with now. We put it in so that one of the diagnostic machines could be mobile. My first thoughts and research angles were based upon people just happily jumping on the network while parked on the street. Hard to believe this isn't so obvious to some...

On the other topic, I too am a home grown (except for a few minimal things), and have been with this company for 2 years. started out just as an assitant, and now I'm the head admin / manager. sure I'd love a degree, mainly coz a lot of people ask how I got here, and I hide behind the desk in embassesment, but I favour the experience much more. I learn stuff every day being on the job... unfortuanetly though, the requirements now are getting more and more heavy, and it's getting harder for the entry level guys to get a leg in.

And yeah, be careful trying to help people out. Sometimes they'll crack the shits and retaliate and it could turn out nasty.
 
Austraya.. haha... Funny man... Im livin in canada now and people always tell me we dont prounouce our own country right...
 
Oddly enough, I'm working on a CS degree simply so I can find a University admin job. The corporate segment sucks and I tend to do well in the academic environment...I've been there before and I was amazed by the sheer lack of clue by some of the "admins" the University had.
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I just got a job at a fairly large vo-tech without a degree but I did have the advantage of being an intern there for 9 months before hand so they knew I was capable.
 
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