http://wireless.weblogsinc.com/entry/9039361947182348/
Wi-Fi Security Needs to be Easy Posted Jun 15, 2004, 12:34 PM ET by Mike Outmesguine Forbes goes warwalking with a security consultant in New York. Gary Morse appears to be using a Linux-powered PDA with Kismet Wireless software to scan the airwaves. The results showing unsecured Wi-Fi networks are nothing new to readers of The Wireless Weblog. However, the padlock analogy used to describe user apathy hits the problem dead on: "Consider for a minute what the world would be like if all padlocks were sold with the default combination "0-0-0" to unlock them, and that if you wanted a different combination you would have to set it yourself. Since people are lazy, wouldn't lots of padlocks in use still have the 0-0-0 combination? Consider the implications of using such a lock on the box that contains all of the company's trade secrets. That's essentially what many novice Wi-Fi users do when they buy their first wireless router, and Morse has the proof right on the screen of his PDA. [...]" User apathy is a constant battle in the computer industry. The growing number of security problems appearing from constantly connected home computers shows that there is a systemic problem. By creating technology hurdles common for tech-literate people, we run into problems when it's not user-centric simplicity. The wireless industry needs to make security a Yes or No question. Users need to have something as simple as, "Do you want fries with that?"
