[ale] heads up - warning - you could be sharing comcast wifi without knowing it
Chris Ricker
chris.ricker at gmail.com
Wed Jun 12 10:00:13 EDT 2013
No more so than they are for any other public attack on one of your
machines which reached you over their wires. You are talking about two
separate unbridged networks. The first common point between them is the CMTS
On 6/12/13 9:02 AM, Pete Hardie wrote:
> So if someone uses this free wifi access to hack one of my machines,
> is Comcast liable?
>
> Pete Hardie
> --------
> Better Living Through Bitmaps
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 8:55 AM, Edward Holcroft <eholcroft at mkainc.com
> <mailto:eholcroft at mkainc.com>> wrote:
>
> <snip>
> Don't see how it would be against the law. They're going to replace a
> device they own connected to a service they own with another device
> they own connected to a service they own?
>
>
> This may be true, but I certainly felt my discomfort level rise
> when I saw this article. Not so much on the threat level, but more
> on the "Comcast are cheeky bastards" level. They may own the
> device and the service, but they do not own my house nor my
> electrical supply. The way Comcast nickels and dimes one, I'd want
> to return the favor and charge them an exorbitant rental for
> housing and powering their public wifi device on private property.
> I could throw in (without even asking them if they want it) an
> unexpected $3.95 monthly fee for preventative dusting of the
> device "to ensure maximum operating efficiency". Or how about a
> fee to ensure that their public wifi device is not tampered with,
> since they are now effectively regarding people's homes as public
> spaces, and you know, anything can go wrong in a public space.
>
> Actually, now that I think about it, to heck with them on this
> one. I'd share my wifi with the neighbors for free, but as long as
> it's Comcast, or any private company behind it, they can forget
> about profiting with my cooperation. I'm sure this list can come
> up with multiple ways to make this atrocious idea fail.
>
> ed
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 9:45 PM, David Tomaschik
> <david at systemoverlord.com <mailto:david at systemoverlord.com>> wrote:
>
> On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 5:17 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE)
> <atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com
> <mailto:atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com>> wrote:
> > Hi guys,
> >
> > I thought you'd like to know about this. I heard the host
> on the Tech News
> > Today podcast ( http://twit.tv/tnt ) say something similar
> to the following:
> > Comcast will be expanding its wifi network by putting wifi
> gateways in
> > Xfinity users homes. ... Comcast users will get free access.
> ... Guests get
> > two free accesses. ... If you don't want to participate, you
> have to opt
> > out.
> >
> <snip>
> >
> > Supposedly, they replace your cable modem with this new wifi
> gateway device.
> > It broadcasts two wifi signals. You log into one of them
> and use YOUR
> > service as normal. Guests login into the other, for free if
> they are
> > Comcast Xfinity customers, and get two free accesses if
> they're not Xfinity
> > customers. SUPPOSEDLY, the 2nd connection is independent of
> the main one,
> > and it doesn't reduce your bandwidth. Yeah, I believe that.
> The APPARENT
> > plan is to replace all the gateways and enable this internet
> sharing without
> > the customer's knowledge. That's got to be against the law
> somehow.
>
> Don't see how it would be against the law. They're going to
> replace a
> device they own connected to a service they own with another
> device
> they own connected to a service they own?
>
> > Now, I know some people willingly share their wifi. I'm not
> one of them. I
> > have my wfi encrypted with long ugly passwords. There are 3
> main reasons.
> > 1) Any other user on my modem is a potential security risk.
>
> I don't know how they have implemented this, but it would be
> trivial
> to assign a 2nd public IP (or even NAT through a single
> neighborhood-wifi-network IP) for the 2nd hotspot and route all
> traffic over that. In that case, a user connected to that has the
> same amount of access as anyone else on the internet.
>
> > 2) It does
> > reduce my bandwidth and performance.
>
> Citation needed. The biggest limitation to your bandwidth is the
> traffic shaping comcast performs at their head end unit. If the
> "public" hotspot is shaped separately, then I don't see how it
> would
> impact your bandwidth. *Maybe* you could make an argument
> regarding
> wifi interference, but a 2nd hotspot on your device won't be any
> different from a 2nd device somewhere nearby.
>
> > 3) If someone else does something
> > illegal while connected to your wifi, the police can ( and
> HAVE ) showed up
> > at your door and arrest you. You then have to prove you
> didn't do it and
> > it's a royal mess.
>
> Actually, no, the prosecution still has to prove you did it
> (at least,
> legally), but yes, I suppose it could cause some headaches, unless
> they can look at wifi hotspot vs private network. Not sure
> how that
> would work.
>
> > Regardless, no ISP should be able to enable this type of
> access without the
> > user's knowledge and consent.
>
> On this, I agree. This should be with the user's consent, but
> I don't
> see it as a big bad threat.
>
>
> --
> David Tomaschik
> OpenPGP: 0x5DEA789B
> http://systemoverlord.com
> david at systemoverlord.com <mailto:david at systemoverlord.com>
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> --
> Edward Holcroft | Madsen Kneppers & Associates Inc.
> 3020 Holcomb Bridge Rd. NW | Norcross, GA 30071
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>
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