I run open WiFi at my home, I still pretend to live in a world where sharing your Internet connection is just basic human decency. I inspect my router's logs from time to time to check for huge blobs of traffic not coming from my devices, and that's about it.
it's not the huge blobs of traffic that you should worry about, but illegal activities... you can get yourself into a serious trouble this way, and trying to prove later that it wasn't you who downloaded child porn or hacked some institution is I presume not the nicest experience.
I'm pretty sure they have to find the downloaded files or traces of them on your machine. Just the fact that your IP did something is not enough for prosecution (though might be enough for a search and seizure)
In Germany it's enough to just have your IP. They might not get you for distributing CP without traces on your computer, but you're still liable ("Mitstörerhaftung").
But even if you're legally totally in the clear and don't mind the huge trouble of having all your gear confiscated for who knows how long, people have lost friends and jobs over accusations of CP or other crimes before.
I might understand why you should be responsible for an open Wi-Fi but "enough to just have your IP" is ridiculous. It is easy to hack a (D-Link [1]) wireless router. Why should you be responsible if somebody uses it for illegal activities?
Botnets use millions of devices of unsuspecting ordinary citizens.
IANAL, but I believe you're responsible for doing "reasonable effort" things for keeping your network secure. That might or might not include not using stuff that is trivially hackable, depending on the court and how expensive your lawyers are.
Which they'll do over, what, six months? Meanwhile, you're having to re-buy all of your equipment unless you're willing to twiddle your thumbs for that time.
Right. But given that the risk is minimal, and the cost is not 'you go to jail forever' but instead something like $500 for a new harddrive (or a couple thousand if you have a laptop and can't just get a new harddrive), it's really not worth worrying about.
I'm guessing you live in an actual house. If you don't mind my asking, how big is your lot? My parents retired to a house on a quarter-acre and they pick up a couple neighbors' networks with good signal.
No, actually I live in a block of flats/apartments. Up until a year ago I used to live in a block consisting only of studio apartments, so I had lots of neighbors, since then I've moved to a "fancier" area and to a one-bedroom apartment and I only have two other neighbors on my floor. I don't think I've ever seen a non-encrypted wifi connection among my neighbors for at least 3-4 years now.
It's really nice that you share, and encourage an open community, people like you have certainly helped me out in the past.
Open wireless routers were far more common 10-15 years ago, when ISPs first started pushing them. Most people hadn't warmed up to the technology yet, and security was barely on the radar; similar to what we're currently seeing with IoT.
Maybe you have no enemies and trust your neighbors, that's awesome. But, anecdotes aside, someone could cause some very ugly problems with your open wifi, without much skill or effort -maybe just for the lulz.
I feel like cheering you on for giving people free internet, but at the same time, I want to pull you aside and say "hey crazy person, please put a password on your WAP." Because, it's a bummer when bad things happen to good people.
