Be Free

Be free! Fly away birdy! Yesterday I set my Wi-Fi network free, I removed the password policy on the router and allowed anyone within range to access the Internet without having to log in, give me their network card address, or throw the voodoo bones on the table.

Now now before you all go crazy and lose your minds citing security, hacking, fire and brimstone, dogs and cats sleeping together and general total anarchy, I'll explain my reasoning here.

One of the Globally Nomadic Execs at my company got themselves an iPhone (*I WANT ONE*) and it is truly one of the coolest, easiest to use devices on the planet, he can use it for almost everything "except" in order to use it effectively he had to come to my team to get a password on the captive portal, log into the captive portal, authenticate and then after all that he can get in and do some productive work.

Does that make sense? Doesn't that seems to be a lot of hoops to jump through in order for a colleague or business partner to get access to the Internet on link that is totally isolated from our internal network for the sake of security?

I thought what are we afraid of? So I told my guys to set the Wi-Fi bird free from it's cage, they looked at me aghast and promptly went to closet where we keep the the straitjackets, luckily before they managed to secure, gag and call for the men in white coats for me they came up with their core issue "But someone will still steal our Wi-Fi!"

So that was the trade off, Ease of use vs. Fear of someone getting a freebie on Wi-Fi access!

Today guys, I chose to set my Wi-Fi bird free.

See Bruce Schneier Security Matters Commentary on Wired - Steal This Wi-Fi