How legal is this? If those places wanted to have open WiFi, they wouldn't have passwords in the first place. Or, at the very least, just write them on the wall. A detour via that app looks rather dubious.
A Map of Wireless Passwords from Airports and Lounges
81–90 of 124 posts
Re: A Map of Wireless Passwords from Airports and Lounges
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
A password that has already been handed out to thousands or tens of thousands of customers isn't "security".
In the physical world social convention is used all the time instead of real security. If my boss needs some peace and quiet he closes his door. It is not locked, but people know not to enter. If it is open I can walk in and have a chat. A WIFI password is a social convention asking you to not share. Everyone knows that it is not secure. But it is much easier than having a captive portal login system. By respecting t…
Door is closed but not locked.
In terms of security it is more of theater, than actual security
Re: A Map of Wireless Passwords from Airports and Lounges
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the physical world social convention is used all the time instead of real security. If my boss needs some peace and quiet he closes his door. It is not locked, but people know not to enter. If it is open I can walk in and have a chat. A WIFI password is a social convention asking you to not share. Everyone knows that it is not secure. But it is much easier than having a captive portal login system. By respecting t…
Door is closed but not locked. In terms of security it is more of theater, than actual security
he literally said instead of real security
Re: A Map of Wireless Passwords from Airports and Lounges
#84I'm not sure this is a good thing to do, but airports that don't have free open wifi annoy me. It's so useful to have internet access when you arrive in a foreign country, for figuring out how to get into the city, or to communicate with a hotel etc, and sometimes its unfeasible to use your own sim abroad. It just seems a petty thing for airports to do, to try and make a few dollars or euros or pounds that way.
I also hate people who put an open wifi requiring an SMS token in an Airport... You know, the only place where you have a good chance of your SIM Card not working for being abroad...
Re: A Map of Wireless Passwords from Airports and Lounges
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm less concerned with the security issues - WiFi you don't control should always be treated as possibly being compromised. What is a problem is that the networks are password protected and not meant for use by the general public. Airline lounges are providing WiFi for customers who have paid for access (either through the type of ticket or by spending enough to have status to access the lounges). Depending on the l…
It is controversial but there is something in publicly posting already compromised long-living static credentials. I do not approve nor disapprove of this. It could be unethical, could be even illegal but still - it also may force to not rely on this security-through-obscurity approach and maybe actually start doing things right. Sadly, many people don't learn from theoretical implications - they just ignore those an…
There are degrees of everything. In an ideal world, they probably wouldn't have passwords at all and trust everyone who doesn't have explicit permission to just not use AIRLINE_CLUB or whatever. We don't live in that world.
On the other hand, they probably don't want to use some complicated individualized password scheme because that's a headache for everyone.
So they pick a happy medium that keeps out the casual web surfer out on the concourse and, if a few people get it, who cares? But if a static password ceases to be much of a deterrent, then they've got no choice but going to a system that places more burden on everyone.
Re: A Map of Wireless Passwords from Airports and Lounges
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
The WiFi isn't offered by the airports, it's offered by private lounges and restaurants, who offer it as a perk to their paying customers.
Well, in europe most airports have free wifi with no restrictions. They are usually offered by the Airport administration company. In my home country, almost all airports administration companies offers time-restricted-but-free-wifi too.
I've travelled all over Europe and Asia and I don't think I've ever come across an airport without at least half decent, free, open wifi. Is this predominantly a US thing?
Re: A Map of Wireless Passwords from Airports and Lounges
#87Re: A Map of Wireless Passwords from Airports and Lounges
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would you care to elaborate what those risks are? The internet is rather bigger than the WiFi network you connect to.
Do I need to explain risks using foreign local networks in HN ? I see it quite unfair to get a downvote for this.
> Do I need to explain risks using foreign local networks in HN ?
Do I really need to explain how not everyone knows everything?
HN is made up of many people with many different skill sets. While you might put emphasis and assign an ideal to the "Hacker" in Hacker News, you are ignoring the large audience of people here that come here from different backgrounds and offer different view points. You also ignore what knowledge people may or may not have. Not everyone understands network security where such things are obvious.
> I see it quite unfair to get a downvote for this.
Do I need to explain why complaining about unfairness of downvotes will get you downvotes?
Rather than whine about how smarter people than you might not know something you do, you could take the time to share knowledge rather than come off as a member of "r/iamverysmart".
Re: A Map of Wireless Passwords from Airports and Lounges
#89"email me" is such an aggravating model. Can this be uploaded to gitlab? I feel like this doesnt need an app. just give me a list of tuples and I can script a grep for the AP im looking for.
+1
This looks to me as the best use of having a public git wit info out there.
Re: A Map of Wireless Passwords from Airports and Lounges
#90The author claims to be a computer security engineer, yet is deliberately setting up a tool to defeat security -- not an abstract tool, useful in surveying and thus improving your own security and incidentally capable of being used for mischief, but nothing more than a list of identifiers and passwords. The only indicator you can gain from this is that someone betrayed your trust. If this profession had a board of et…
WiFi passwords aren't about security for the people using the network, they're about blocking people who haven't paid for it. If, as an attacker, one of your targets is using JFK's airport WiFi, getting the password for that WiFi is the least of your problems. Whether it's ethical to hand out passwords to people who haven't paid for WiFi is another question entirely, but wouldn't it be sweet if businesses just let an…
No, because wifi bandwidth is finite
and shared.