by fencepost » Sun Apr 14, 2002 1:41 pm
Be careful if you decide to do this - sure a lot of them are home users who don't have a clue about how to secure them (or even that they should) but if you're doing much connecting through other people's or companies' APs then you're going to be leaving a trail.
Sure you can change your MAC, but so what? If someone decides to track you down it's not like there's a database tying MACs back to owners.
If someone decides to track you down, they'll go to the sites you accessed with a subpoena for their logs. "I need the name of the person who connected from IP 1.2.3.4 at 8:42 PM CST on April 14, 2002."
How much surfing are you likely to be doing without hitting any sites where you need to log in? Want to check your stock portfolio? Just log on. Want to post a response to something in the Netstumbler forums? Just log on. Want to use your customized layout on Slashdot? Just log on. Want to read your email? Connect to a shell account? Anything beyond plain surfing? Just log on.
Want to be sure you're using home APs instead of business ones where there's (at least marginally) more chance that you'll be tracked? Watch yourself if you're in suburbia - people sitting in cars for long in subdivisions (day or night) are likely to have a police cruiser drop by just to make sure they're aware that stalking is considered a bad thing. People sitting in cars near those elementary schools and junior high schools with the unsecured APs are even more likely to attract attention.
So be careful out there, boys and girls - it's a cold hard world, and it is out to get you.
Me, I'll stick with the broadband at home or the T1 at work. I've never found a car to be a particularly comfortable place to use a laptop anyway.
fencepost