We had a customer receive a threatening letter from a law firm in Los Angeles recently. The bottom line of the letter - Your network has been used to download copyright protected material illegally. Pay up or we go to court. After I got involved we determined several things. One the customer had recent problems with their Modem/router and had it replaced by their Internet provider. When it was replaced no security was put on their wireless network. It seems that someone got on to their wireless network in the early morning hours and downloaded many movies. The downloads had been going on for a month or two. I found out the law firm that issued the letter is known as a "copyright troll". They have gotten the right to sue from a low budget movie company and had sent out over 20,000 letters threatening the worse.
My advise (and the advise of those who have seen many of these cases) was to 1. secure your Wi-Fi now. 2. get a lawyer. The fines involved are not insignificant. The average settlement is around $750. So let's be clear. If you have a Wi-Fi network that isn't secured, you may be putting yourself in jeopardy of being subpoenaed and having to defend whether you or someone who was on your network downloaded copyrighted material. Lets not even think about if the material was regular or child pornography. Then you could be looking at sexual misconduct charges. These are very scary implications!
So what kind of security should you have on your Wi-Fi network? PCSS recommends using WPA security that is standard on every modern wireless router. You can pick a pass phrase that will let you and those you trust onto the network. Remember that you as the payer of the Internet bill are ultimately responsible for all that is downloaded (and uploaded) on your network. That means if your kids have programs such as LimeWire on their computers, you are at risk for being charged with downloading copyright material. You probably need to check the computers of your employees, family and anyone that might be using your network to see if they have what we call bit torrent downloaders. These programs are designed to download illegal material (songs, films, videos). There is no free lunch. With most songs costing $0.99 to download, why risk a lawsuit by illegal downloading. If you have a business make sure you have a computer use policy that clearly defines what the Internet is to be used for (and not for). Make sure you train your employees in Internet security.
If you have any concerns about your wireless security or Internet security, PCSS provides services to keep your networks safe and review your present security situation.
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