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Years ago when wifi first became a thing my friends and I would drive around with early Wireshark and a Pringles can antenna and change all the open SSID's we c
by iamleppert 8y ago
Years ago when wifi first became a thing my friends and I would drive around with early Wireshark and a Pringles can antenna and change all the open SSID's we could find to "Call [some number] to secure your network". All the routers back then were open by default so we could easily do a few dozen per day.
When they would call (and they always called), we would then show up and charge the person between $50-$250 (or however much we thought we could get) to change the SSID and setup WEP.
When times got desperate and we needed a new flat screen TV we returned back to our previous victims, and, having their WEP passwords we setup, changed it back to the original message:
"It's a good thing you called us -- the hackers got in again, but we have some new defenses against them. Stick with us. We'll protect you."
As a bunch of tech-savvy poor kids, it was very satisfying taking money from rich, old (mostly white) people. We were able to quit our jobs working fast food with our new found venture. That somehow made up for the unethical nature of it all in the youthful minds of late teen and early 20's punks.
- mark_edward 8y agoWhy would you share this story? It really is horrible. Anyway, glad you changed.
- 456hdsaq234g 8y agoWhat is the indication that this person has changed? OP ran an extortion scheme against non-technical folks, and then extorted the victims again. Its a horrible horrible story and the OP should be ashamed with themselves, and rethink their life.
- mark_edward 8y agoI just kind of assumed they did. Also the sibling indicates this might be a troll so I'm taking the whole thing with a grain of salt.
- iamleppert 8y agoWhy should I rethink my life? What is the difference between what I did, and what Symantec does on a massive scale? Or even Equifax? Or Facebook? We changed the names of the SSIDs, which were publicly open at the time and there was no legal president set as to if it was legal or not to do so, since we were on public property. We were providing a service to the community, letting people know there is someone who can help them secure their network. I do admit the changing them back part was a bit evil, but don't act like you're some saint who hasn't done anything wrong especially as a teenager or in your early adulthood.
- fizwhiz 8y agoFrom GP's "about me" on HN: > most of my comments are designed to provoke a response Nothing to see here. It's likely a bs story.
- mark_edward 8y agoThat's... If I ran a forum that was supposed to be moderated like HN I'd ban someone like that. This is Reddit-tier copy-pasta or YouTube "Social Experiment" garbage.
- iamleppert 8y agoAll my content is my own and original, not "CopyPasta". Thanks for your value judgement on my creative works in calling my content "garbage". Why don't you go start your own forum that will be as dull and devoid of any dissenting opinion as yourself?
- iamleppert 8y agoWow you certainly read into that. Just because I post provocative things doesn't make them untrue.
- berbec 8y agoI think you have a misunderstanding of what you did. > the illegal nature of it all Fixed that for you.
- iamleppert 8y agoCan you please provide appropriate legal precedent at that time? I did do research at the time, more out of curiosity to see what the punishments would be if I get caught, but could not find anything. All I did was change the name of the network.
- berbec 8y agoAnd fraudulently sell a service designed to secure said network from future intrusions. And when you were short on money, went back and set up a situation where they needed to give you more money. How are you rationalizing this as "kids will be kids"? This is Extortion.
- pavel_lishin 8y ago> When times got desperate and we needed a new flat screen TV You and I have a very different definition of "desperate times".
- iamleppert 8y agoI was being sarcastic. I'm sorry you and I don't have the same definition of humor.