Wi-Fi theft

Police target the hacker next door

Lee Glendinning
Wednesday April 18, 2007
The Guardian

They hunch over laptops in their cars on neighbourhood streets, tapping into other people's wireless broadband connections for some free time online, and are fast becoming criminals of the internet age.
Wi-Fi theft leaves no fingerprints and keeps its distance, but thousands are at risk because they don't adequately password protect their wireless accounts.

Using the strong broadband signal of the neighbours may seem relatively harmless but it can now result in a criminal record.

In the past month two people have been arrested for using other people's wireless connections without permission in Worcestershire, in what are believed to be among the first cases of their kind. A man was spotted by residents using a laptop while parked in his car outside a house in Redditch.
In an unconnected incident, a 29-year- old woman was arrested following a similar incident, also in Redditch, earlier in the month.

They received a caution for dishonestly obtaining electronic communication services with intent to avoid payment. . .

Full story at: Technology Guardian