Why You See 'Free Public WiFi' In So Many Places 260
An anonymous reader writes "Almost anywhere you go these days (particularly at airports), if you check for available WiFi settings, you have a pretty good chance of seeing an ad hoc network for 'Free Public WiFi.' Of course, since it's ad hoc (computer to computer) it's not actually access to the internet. So why is this in so many places? Turns out it's due to a bug in Windows XP. Apparently, the way XP works is that if it can't find a 'favorite' WiFi hotspot, it automatically sets up the computer to broadcast itself as an ad hoc network point, using the name of the last connection the computer attempted. So... people see 'Free Public WiFi' and they try to log on. Then their own computer starts broadcasting the same thing, because it can't find a network it knows. And, like a virus, the 'Free Public WiFi' that doesn't work lives on and on and on."
So... (Score:5, Funny)
Ah!
Heh! (Score:4, Funny)
Damnit.. (Score:3, Funny)
"They Still Use Windows XP?!" (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I see this alot (Score:4, Funny)
Oh wow! Is it a big alot? Or a furry one? Is it friendly? I hear alots can be dangerous.
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html
Re:"They Still Use Windows XP?!" (Score:4, Funny)
Sure, why should today be any different than any other day in my life...
*sighs*
Re:Possible attack vector (Score:5, Funny)
That's like using a scope when you're shooting ducks in a barrel.
Well, no, it's more like using bait.
Your average hipster walks sits down in an urban coffee shop and opens his laptop: the first thing he does is look for a signal from which he can leech access. Free? Public? Sounds like it's free, a virtue of which your average hipster whole-heartedly approves. Public sounds good too: it's like natural or organic or community (as an adjective) or recycled or [x]-friendly or tolerant or sustainable or any other epithet that reinforces his hipsterish sense of righteousness. Naturally, the hipster connects and begins surfing and checking e-mail. MITM gets to read his e-mail and his web reading habits (organic hipster porn).
Re:"They Still Use Windows XP?!" (Score:4, Funny)
7 did absolutely nothing I needed that XP didn't, and had plenty of quirks that drove me crazy.
Nothing?! They made the digital camera interface usable, and someone finally added a “crop” function to Paint...
Re:Heh! (Score:5, Funny)
That's the SSID for my home wi-fi :-D.
Funny, that's the combination to my luggage...
Re:I see this alot (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Heh! (Score:3, Funny)
Keeps the riff-raff out...
Re:Slashdot reading Hack A Day? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Heh! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The next step. (Score:4, Funny)
IPVFore! (Score:4, Funny)
I was once called out for an emergency network repair at a local country club. A company had hired out the banquet room for a large business meeting, and could not get the wireless to work. When I arrived on site, I found that everyone in the room was connected to Free Public Wifi, being broadcast by one of the company owners' laptops. Turned out, the golf course did not have a wireless access point at all.
Re:So... (Score:5, Funny)
Windows really *is* a virus!
Ah!
No. Viruses are:
-Small
-Free
-Well-written
Re:The next step. (Score:3, Funny)
Microsoft *tortles again.
*Doing something which is legal, but shouldn't be. Example he tortled with her affections.
Re:Un-encrypted ?!? (Score:3, Funny)
Anyone dumb enough not to know how to do their own brain surgery deservers what they get!
The easy part's getting the brain out. The hard part's getting the brain out!
Re:The next step. (Score:3, Funny)
Yup. It's tortles all the way down.