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The rise of passive-aggressive wi-fi names
- nicholassmith 14y agoSurprised the 'FBI Van' one wasn't mentioned as I've seen that more than a few times in the wild and posted around the internet.
- duck 14y agoI've never seen that one, but I always use FBI + some long random string of numbers. A while back I had a neighbor ask me if I knew anyone on the street that was with the FBI. :)
- hellweaver666 14y agoIt was on the example pic about half way down.
- nicholassmith 14y agoTrue, but as it's become a bit of a geek in joke I was surprised it wasn't mentioned during the article as well.
- jeffool 14y agoI found it funny they mentioned "I can hear you having sex" but not the reply "WeCanHearYouNotHavingSex".
- hcrisp 14y ago"FBI Surveillance van" wasn't directly mentioned, but it does partially appear in one of the photos.
- francov88 14y agoThat person is a genius imo
- wisty 14y agoDoes anyone else think that using the term "passive-agressive" is somewhat ... passive-agressive?
- jofo25 14y agoI seem to only hear it in "STOP BEING SO PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE ARGHHHH" sentences.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- zerostar07 14y agoAlso most of the names are pretty direct, no passive aggressiveness there
- rm999 14y agoIt's passive aggressive because the people aren't directly speaking to their neighbors. Kind of like the notes in passiveaggressivenotes.com - those notes are direct, but they avoid direct confrontation.
- starpilot 14y agoThen all notes are passive by nature of not being face to face, and they should just be called "aggressive notes." Except many of these aren't aggressive in that they're not deliberately hostile or vengeful, just plain directives that some readers take as personal attacks for some reason.
- mturmon 14y agoNo, not all notes are passive, because they are not transmitted as a wi-fi name. That's what makes them passive in this instance. They are relayed without actively delivering them.
- zerostar07 14y ago
- mouseroot 14y agothis really isnt news I mean back when everyone left thier routers open be default alot of the network names where even more aggressive its funny they know howto change the sisd but not the damn password or encryption type lol
- Nursie 14y agoNo 'Free Public Wifi' ? Awesome windows virusy-thing that was...
- christoph 14y agoActually not a virus, just a bug in Windows XP - http://www.npr.org/2010/10/09/130451369/the-zombie-network-beware-free-public-wifi http://www.npr.org/2010/10/09/130451369/the-zombie-network-b...
- code_duck 14y agoMy favorite are the ones that leave you wondering what's going on where, such as "Make Out Party".
- lewisflude 14y agoNot linking back to the Reddit post (as far as I can see). This seems to be a bit of a trend recently. :)
- lewispollard 14y agoThere's a trade-in electronics chain in the UK called CeX, and their WiFi hotspots are open and named 'Unprotected CeX' by default which I always found amusing.
- jug6ernaut 14y agoAm i the only one who doesn't broadcast their SSID?
- travisp 14y agoYou're almost certainly not the "only one." But, most of us don't bother because it doesn't provide any additional security (and might mislead you into thinking you can make your network less secure). See "Why Non-broadcast Networks are not a Security Feature" at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb726942.aspx#EDAA http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb726942.aspx#EDA...
- harshreality 14y agoDoesn't it also make it more difficult for neighbors to check for channel conflicts?
- ek 14y agoNo, it doesn't. Spectrum analyzers can detect WiFi signals regardless of whether or not they are broadcasting an SSID, which includes discerning what channel they are on. By extension, most software built-in to WAPs that automatically chooses the channel to reduce conflicts will do similar spectrum analysis. You can read GP's article from TechNet for more information on this.
- rdwallis 14y agoIt would be great if everyone just put their phone number as the SSID. Phone numbers are unique and let others contact you if they want to use your wifi for some reason. Would probably help neighbors get hold of each other in emergencies as well.
- alanctgardner2 14y agoBut then any random passerby could harvest phone numbers easily. And because of the nature of a) cell phones and b) wireless networks, there isn't really a good correlation from wifi-availability to geographic location to actual phone location. You might know all of your neighbours' phone numbers, but not which goes with whom, nor which ones are on your floor, or even in your building. And just imagine someone phoning them all to try to find out who's playing music at night.
- rdwallis 14y agoWell yes, if you publish your phone number then people will be able to see it. You're right about the flat number / street number situation though. It might be good to add that to the SSID as well. Loud music seems like a perfect use case for the information.
- nucleardog 14y agoWhen I lived in an apartment building our SSID was "internet-304". 304 being my apartment number. No one ever showed up at my door or anything, but it was there. Seems like the most obvious and succinct way to tie the access point to a physical location, which seems the most obvious way to open communications.
- rdwallis 14y agoYes, I've had my phone number as SSID for the past three years and have yet to have anyone call it. I think it'll need to hit a critical mass before it's useful. People don't expect SSID's to have useful information so they don't look for it there.
- francov88 14y agoDoes it make me a bad person if I find some of these really funny and creative?
- eps 14y agoI stick to "Honeypot".
- pyre 14y agoNot everyone knows what that is. They might just assume that you're a fan of Winnie the Pooh.
- imgabe 14y agoMy favorite one in my neighborhood is "Hide Yo Kids Hide Yo WiFi"
- sergiotapia 14y agoQuick hypothetical scenario. If I were to open a free wifi network and let anybody use it, say call it: "Free Internet!" and many people used it. Could I intercept those users personal information suck as Facebook usernames, passwords, emails, etc? How deep would me penetration go? Or will I only be able to intercept packets? I always tell my wife to not use online banking etc when she visits a cafe with free internet, but it's just a hunch - not based on my actual knowledge on the matter. That's why I'm asking. Thanks!
- incision 14y agoWell, if you own the AP you're going to have quite a bit of visibility, but that might not even be necessary... Firesheep: Easy HTTP session hijacking from within Firefox http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1827928 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1827928 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firesheep http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firesheep
- joshAg 14y ago> Could I intercept those users personal information suck as Facebook usernames, passwords, emails, etc? Yes. You'd have to do a bit of work, since the info would be encrypted, but by being in-path you would get all the info you need to decrypt the messages. > I always tell my wife to not use online banking etc when she visits a cafe with free internet, but it's just a hunch - not based on my actual knowledge on the matter. That's why I'm asking. Thanks! Unless she does her web browsing over a secured vpn, then there's a chance that information could be seen by someone.
- jiggy2011 14y agoNot necessarily. Facebook now uses SSL for login and I'm assuming any sane Online banking service does the same. On the other hand there things to watch out for like SSL strip. http://www.thoughtcrime.org/software/sslstrip/ http://www.thoughtcrime.org/software/sslstrip/ So make sure that you are actually using the HTTPS version of any site. If you are using standard HTTP (or another unencrypted protocol) then you can assume that the network owner can intercept everything you are doing.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- keithpeter 14y agoI've been using "just sit down and have a nice cup of tea" for some time. I use hyphens in the actual name. Alas, my neighbours still have SKY-some-large-number or the BT equivalent. They all do have wpa2 turned on however. http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/exhibitions/current/?id=50 http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/exhibitions/current/?id=50 I think goto10 have automated the id string thing. I saw something like this in Birmingham some months ago, goto10 did a residence then.
- quarterto 14y agoA couple of years ago visible form my student house were "227 epic house" and "229 even more epic house".
- Create 14y agoPaper always works. http://static-mb.minutebuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/chers-voisins-1.jpg http://static-mb.minutebuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/c...
- mjn 14y agoI've recently run across a handful of political messages in prominent locations. Taking the train from Tampere to Turku, Finland, for example, someone on the train was broadcasting a really long SSID that translates roughly to "Support tram construction in Tampere and Turku!"
- dllthomas 14y agoI have two networks, a private one and a public one. The public one has no password, and the SSID is "My Address Guest". I've received thank-you notes. If overuse gets to be an issue, I'll throttle the public side, but it hasn't been so far.
- thesloth 14y agoAnd what if someone uses it for illegal activities? The buck would stop with you (or at least start there). I'd be very wary about an Open WiFi these days....
- dllthomas 14y agoHaving been stuck without access in the past, I think the benefit to others is worth the risk. See also: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/01/my_open_wireles.html http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/01/my_open_wirele... https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/04/open-wireless-movement https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/04/open-wireless-movement
- foxhop 14y agomy wireless SSID has been 1337haxz0r for the last 6 years. Nobody has attempted to break in, I hope to confuse people who don't use 1337 speak or scare off people that do...
- rmcastil 14y agoUltimate passive agressive one would be "I'm not mad, just disappointed".
- SparrowOS 14y agoGod is just. Why else would Jesus say "turn the other cheek." God says... LORD be of the flock; male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. 3:7 If he offer a lamb for his offering, then shall he offer it before the LORD. 3:8 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar. 3:9 And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat thereof, and the whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the backbone; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 3:10 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.
- civilian 14y agoOne in my apartment building is: "Inside Bristol Palin's Uterus".