On Fri, Apr 11, 2003 at 02:01:54AM -0700, Raj Saxena wrote:
> Your dialup,dsl nor cable modem are secure either. Having a nat router
> only provides a very basic level of security. So why would you care if your
> wireless link is secure or not? Yeah running a isp is no joke and having
> something secure is ideal but if your customers don't ask for it then why
> bother? dialup customers have no clue that they are wide open on the net!
Raj,
You seem to be saying that wired and wireless networks are just as
insecure, and that ISP customers will not care or know the difference. I
disagree. I think that in most ISP customers' perspective, the privacy
threats for unencrypted wireless networks really *are* different for
unencrypted wired ones.
I think that for a person's typical Internet uses, they are more
concerned that their neighbor is eavesdropping than that somebody
at the telco or at a NAP (a "router farm" such as big cities have)
is eavesdropping. It does not matter if their transactions are "wide
open on the net" between the telco office and Amazon.com, provided
their credit card numbers are concealed. But it is a different matter
if their wireless router is bellowing something embarrassing into the
neighborhood: Mr. Jones is a fan of Britney Spears!
Compared to eavesdropping on 802.11 wireless, eavesdropping on the
cable network is harder for your neighbor to do, and for certain types
of eavesdropping, he risks detection. Eavesdropping on the DSL/dialup
is even more difficult, and the risk of detection ("Say, what are you
doing on that pole?") is even greater.
Dave
--
David Young OJC Technologies
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Urbana, IL * (217) 278-3933
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