WTF - One of our neighbors set up their SSID with a disgustingly racist name

[Mr Pickles]

Originally posted by: ducci

Originally posted by: Chiropteran

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Chiropteran

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
Log into the router, change the SSID settings, lock out all their PCs, and show them what's up.

Something tells me all the little pansies suggesting such actions are too meek and afraid to do anything like this in real life. I bet you are all pushovers when you step away from the computer. Sad that your e-peener is the only way you can get off.

In real life? LOL. This is something that would be done entirely over the internet/radio waves. It's not something you can do "in real life", you *have* to do it over the internet.

So yeah. Nobody is going to break into a wireless router "in real life" for a couple reasons.

1- Knowing an SSID doesn't really give you a clue where the router is.
2- Physical proximity to the router is useless, you need to connect to it remotely from another computer to do anything useful.
3- Anything you could do to a router given physical access would be very clearly illegal. Accessing an unsecured router remotely is only officially illegal in a few places, and doing so leaves little evidence that could be used by the average person.

Ahh, rationalizing vandalism on a technicality. Welcome to 21st century America.

ZV

Zomg you are vandalizing the forums, call the internet police!

If a wireless router is wide open, and broadcasting it's SSID, that is the equivalent of an internet forum such as Anandtech's being open for anyone to register and post.

In much the same way as a moderator could abuse their power here, anyone who uses a public un-passworded access point could abuse their powers as well, but I don't see how it can be described as vandalism or illegal in either case.

Now, there are admittedly some retarded laws recently put into place in a few states. If you do live in such a state, it is illegal, but I don't see how that automatically makes it illegal everywhere.

First off, you lose tons of credibility by starting off with "Zomg".

Yeah stop it, we're trying to have a serious intertube debate with complete strangers.

 

[Oceandevi]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: Oceandevi

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
Log into the router, change the SSID settings, lock out all their PCs, and show them what's up.

Something tells me all the little pansies suggesting such actions are too meek and afraid to do anything like this in real life. I bet you are all pushovers when you step away from the computer. Sad that your e-peener is the only way you can get off.

You challenge me? I am 6 foot 8 and 350 lbs all muscle. Lets go..

and i bet you make $300k a year and a supermodel girlfriend! not to mention teach MMA!

are you stalking me? I am also a male model. and I dont teach mma anymore, the FBI made me stop, cuz I wuz 2 deadly

 

[AreaCode707]

Go knock on their door, politely let them know that you noticed their wireless network was unsecured, offer to help them secure it and, in passing, mention that you were surprised they'd choose an offensive name for something that can be seen publicly, and would they mind if you changed it to something else?

Teach by example.

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
Wireless is NOT shared space.

It's not? So I can start billing people who invade my wireless space with unauthorized signals?

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: HotChic
Go knock on their door, politely let them know that you noticed their wireless network was unsecured, offer to help them secure it and, in passing, mention that you were surprised they'd choose an offensive name for something that can be seen publicly, and would they mind if you changed it to something else?

Teach by example.

How exactly do you get a home address from an SSID? There is no way to know who's wireless router it is.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: HotChic
Go knock on their door, politely let them know that you noticed their wireless network was unsecured, offer to help them secure it and, in passing, mention that you were surprised they'd choose an offensive name for something that can be seen publicly, and would they mind if you changed it to something else?

Teach by example.

OR, if the op happens to be black, show up in the whole white sheet get up and tell the guy "dude, you are broadcasting, you are going to bring the feds down on us."

then pull off the hood.

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: ducci
Second, my home is not surrounded by barbed wire fence - anyone can simply walk up to it and, say, rearrange my sprinklers to point into an open window, or paint all over my door or something. It's no different. I assume you would also key a car if it had a bumper sticker that said something offensive on it?

Trespassing is illegal. Accessing a wireless signal is not, AFAIK. Except in a few states with some new draconian laws.

 

[Oceandevi]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: HotChic
Go knock on their door, politely let them know that you noticed their wireless network was unsecured, offer to help them secure it and, in passing, mention that you were surprised they'd choose an offensive name for something that can be seen publicly, and would they mind if you changed it to something else?

Teach by example.

OR, if the op happens to be black, show up in the whole white sheet get up and tell the guy "dude, you are broadcasting, you are going to bring the feds down on us."

then pull off the hood.

rick james his ass?

 

[bignateyk]

your panties... are they in a bunch?

 

[oznerol]

Originally posted by: Chiropteran

Originally posted by: ducci
Second, my home is not surrounded by barbed wire fence - anyone can simply walk up to it and, say, rearrange my sprinklers to point into an open window, or paint all over my door or something. It's no different. I assume you would also key a car if it had a bumper sticker that said something offensive on it?

Trespassing is illegal. Accessing a wireless signal is not, AFAIK. Except in a few states with some new draconian laws.

And modifying the settings of private property (the router)? So it would be OK to throw eggs at my house so long as you stand on the sidewalk? Or again, key my car because it's parked on the street?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Chiropteran

Originally posted by: HotChic
Go knock on their door, politely let them know that you noticed their wireless network was unsecured, offer to help them secure it and, in passing, mention that you were surprised they'd choose an offensive name for something that can be seen publicly, and would they mind if you changed it to something else?

Teach by example.

How exactly do you get a home address from an SSID? There is no way to know who's wireless router it is.

Directional antenna and you could locate it in under 5 minutes.

 

[m1ldslide1]

Originally posted by: jonks

Originally posted by: Feldenak

Originally posted by: Mr Pickles

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
Log into the router, change the SSID settings, lock out all their PCs, and show them what's up.

Something tells me all the little pansies suggesting such actions are too meek and afraid to do anything like this in real life. I bet you are all pushovers when you step away from the computer. Sad that your e-peener is the only way you can get off.

I can see our OP sitting at his computer with you hovering over him going "I bet you won't you little pansy..."

Granted, changing their settings is criminal, but is it really that big of a deal? Its about as anonymous as you can get. Just hop on, change the name, and hop out. If they do it again and lock it down then so be it, at least you did something.

That statement says volumes about your complete lack of character & integrity.

Please, not wearing a seatbelt is about as illegal as changing an SSID and it doesn't speak of poor character and integrity to not wear a seatbelt. There's such a thing as degree sir. He's not hacking their router to make fake ebay purchases. It's a completely harmless prank pulled on a bunch of jerks broadcasting an offensive name, knowingly or not. Chill with the hyperbole.

Agreed. I like the idea of sending things to their printer. :thumbsup:

So nobody here has ever pulled a prank on a douchebag?

 

[QED]

An extremely racist SSID? You don't happen to live near Spike Lee, do you?

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: HotChic
Go knock on their door, politely let them know that you noticed their wireless network was unsecured, offer to help them secure it and, in passing, mention that you were surprised they'd choose an offensive name for something that can be seen publicly, and would they mind if you changed it to something else?

Teach by example.

OP said it was a horrible racist name, you can't "teach by example" when it comes to those kind of asshats. Racist people are beyond any type of learning, and I'm frankly shocked they even were able to get the wireless router up and running.

And to everyone who's saying there's no way to know who's SSID it is. Wireless signals don't transmit that far, it's not like the said douchbag is miles away. It's a neighbor, not dude some in adjacent city. With a really racist name just look for a neighbor who looks extra douchlike. Me, I'd use my pocket W-Fi finger with LED screen, makes tracking down a SSID's owner as easy as walking down the street with it in my hand

 

[ElMonoDelMar]

How do people equate changing the SSID to causing physical damage such as keying or egging? I'd say if anything it is similar to rearranging letters on a sign liketo the one seen on http://www.churchsigngenerator.com/.

 

[aphex]

Wow, I'm actually surprised how many decided to chime in here.

Let me just say a few things;

1. As I stated earlier, I have no intention of actually logging into their router and changing anything. The final sentence of my post was in jest, as referenced by the . My apologies if this was too subtle.
2. Yes, I fully understand that their racist / hate speech SSID is indeed protected under freedom of speech (see, Brandenburg v. Ohio) as this is not likely to incite or produce such action.
3. No, it's not directed towards me or my race but I still find it offensive, as I believe most others would as well. Not really sure why some would suggest I get over myself?
4. Despite this, I have every right to be annoyed by it as I can see it every time I'm working on my wifi connection (often lately), as can all the neighbors.

Just because something is simply words doesn't make it have less of an impact. They have every right to say it, and I have every right to be annoyed by it.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: aphex
Wow, I'm actually surprised how many decided to chime in here.

Let me just say a few things;

1. As I stated earlier, I have no intention of actually logging into their router and changing anything. The final sentence of my post was in jest, as referenced by the . My apologies if this was too subtle.
2. Yes, I fully understand that their racist / hate speech SSID is indeed protected under freedom of speech (see, Brandenburg v. Ohio) as this is not likely to incite or produce such action.
3. No, it's not directed towards me or my race but I still find it offensive, as I believe most others would as well.
4. Despite this, I have every right to be annoyed by it as I can see it every time I'm working on my wifi connection (often lately), as can all the neighbors.

Just because something is simply words doesn't make it have less of an impact. They have every right to say it, and I have every right to be annoyed by it.

You're sadly mistaken. They have every RIGHT to say it. You have NO RIGHT, NOR ARE ENTITLED TO to be annoyed by it. Constitution, read it.

Now CAN you be annoyed by it? Are you ALLOWED to be annoyed by it. Of course.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Chiropteran

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Chiropteran

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
Log into the router, change the SSID settings, lock out all their PCs, and show them what's up.

Something tells me all the little pansies suggesting such actions are too meek and afraid to do anything like this in real life. I bet you are all pushovers when you step away from the computer. Sad that your e-peener is the only way you can get off.

In real life? LOL. This is something that would be done entirely over the internet/radio waves. It's not something you can do "in real life", you *have* to do it over the internet.

So yeah. Nobody is going to break into a wireless router "in real life" for a couple reasons.

1- Knowing an SSID doesn't really give you a clue where the router is.
2- Physical proximity to the router is useless, you need to connect to it remotely from another computer to do anything useful.
3- Anything you could do to a router given physical access would be very clearly illegal. Accessing an unsecured router remotely is only officially illegal in a few places, and doing so leaves little evidence that could be used by the average person.

Ahh, rationalizing vandalism on a technicality. Welcome to 21st century America.

ZV

Zomg you are vandalizing the forums, call the internet police!

If a wireless router is wide open, and broadcasting it's SSID, that is the equivalent of an internet forum such as Anandtech's being open for anyone to register and post.

In much the same way as a moderator could abuse their power here, anyone who uses a public un-passworded access point could abuse their powers as well, but I don't see how it can be described as vandalism or illegal in either case.

Now, there are admittedly some retarded laws recently put into place in a few states. If you do live in such a state, it is illegal, but I don't see how that automatically makes it illegal everywhere.

No, it's not the equivalent of an internet forum. It's the equivalent of someone leaving their car parked with the engine running and the doors unlocked. It's stupid. But it's still not right, and cannot be rationalized as "right", for an outside party to access that property.

The router is another person's property. There is no way around that.

ZV

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: aphex
Wow, I'm actually surprised how many decided to chime in here.

Let me just say a few things;

1. As I stated earlier, I have no intention of actually logging into their router and changing anything. The final sentence of my post was in jest, as referenced by the . My apologies if this was too subtle.
2. Yes, I fully understand that their racist / hate speech SSID is indeed protected under freedom of speech (see, Brandenburg v. Ohio) as this is not likely to incite or produce such action.
3. No, it's not directed towards me or my race but I still find it offensive, as I believe most others would as well.
4. Despite this, I have every right to be annoyed by it as I can see it every time I'm working on my wifi connection (often lately), as can all the neighbors.

Just because something is simply words doesn't make it have less of an impact. They have every right to say it, and I have every right to be annoyed by it.

You're sadly mistaken. They have every RIGHT to say it. You have NO RIGHT, NOR ARE ENTITLED TO to be annoyed by it. Constitution, read it.

Now CAN you be annoyed by it? Are you ALLOWED to be annoyed by it. Of course.

<please see my updated reply>

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: aphex
Wow, I'm actually surprised how many decided to chime in here.

Let me just say a few things;

1. As I stated earlier, I have no intention of actually logging into their router and changing anything. The final sentence of my post was in jest, as referenced by the . My apologies if this was too subtle.
2. Yes, I fully understand that their racist / hate speech SSID is indeed protected under freedom of speech (see, Brandenburg v. Ohio) as this is not likely to incite or produce such action.
3. No, it's not directed towards me or my race but I still find it offensive, as I believe most others would as well.
4. Despite this, I have every right to be annoyed by it as I can see it every time I'm working on my wifi connection (often lately), as can all the neighbors.

Just because something is simply words doesn't make it have less of an impact. They have every right to say it, and I have every right to be annoyed by it.

You're sadly mistaken. They have every RIGHT to say it. You have NO RIGHT, NOR ARE ENTITLED TO to be annoyed by it. Constitution, read it.

Now CAN you be annoyed by it? Are you ALLOWED to be annoyed by it. Of course.

C'mon now, I wasn't trying to state that its my right as granted under the constitution, your reading way too much into that statement. My SINCERE APOLOGIES for using the wrong word.

So how about giving us some clue as to exactly what disgustingly racist thing was used as an SSID that resulted in this thread?

 

[Mani]

Originally posted by: sjwaste
Hell, if they're too dumb to secure it, go ahead and mac filter their own pc's from it.

lol awesome

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Originally posted by: aphex
Wow, I'm actually surprised how many decided to chime in here.

Let me just say a few things;

1. As I stated earlier, I have no intention of actually logging into their router and changing anything. The final sentence of my post was in jest, as referenced by the . My apologies if this was too subtle.
2. Yes, I fully understand that their racist / hate speech SSID is indeed protected under freedom of speech (see, Brandenburg v. Ohio) as this is not likely to incite or produce such action.
3. No, it's not directed towards me or my race but I still find it offensive, as I believe most others would as well. Not really sure why some would suggest I get over myself?
4. Despite this, I have every right to be annoyed by it as I can see it every time I'm working on my wifi connection (often lately), as can all the neighbors.

Just because something is simply words doesn't make it have less of an impact. They have every right to say it, and I have every right to be annoyed by it.

What's the SSID name? If you don't want to post it publicly, could you at least PM us if we request this vital piece of information? I don't doubt it was racist, but without knowing the specifics, this argument is pointless.

For what it's worth, I knew a black guy who would use handles like "DieN*gg*rs!" (no asterisks). He liked to get a rise out of people by being as offensive as possible.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy

Originally posted by: aphex
Wow, I'm actually surprised how many decided to chime in here.

Let me just say a few things;

1. As I stated earlier, I have no intention of actually logging into their router and changing anything. The final sentence of my post was in jest, as referenced by the . My apologies if this was too subtle.
2. Yes, I fully understand that their racist / hate speech SSID is indeed protected under freedom of speech (see, Brandenburg v. Ohio) as this is not likely to incite or produce such action.
3. No, it's not directed towards me or my race but I still find it offensive, as I believe most others would as well. Not really sure why some would suggest I get over myself?
4. Despite this, I have every right to be annoyed by it as I can see it every time I'm working on my wifi connection (often lately), as can all the neighbors.

Just because something is simply words doesn't make it have less of an impact. They have every right to say it, and I have every right to be annoyed by it.

What's the SSID name? If you don't want to post it publicly, could you at least PM us if we request this vital piece of information? I don't doubt it was racist, but without knowing the specifics, this argument is pointless.

For what it's worth, I knew a black guy who would use handles like "DieN*gg*rs!" (no asterisks). He liked to get a rise out of people by being as offensive as possible.

I've neglected posting it because it's not something i'd like to repeat, but since so many have asked;

The ssid is; KILL_ALL_NiG**RS

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Originally posted by: aphex
I've neglected posting it because it's not something i'd like to repeat, but since so many have asked;

The ssid is; KILL_ALL_NiG**RS

Originally posted by: Arkaign
There's one in our apt community. 'KILLALLNIGGERS'. Classy.

You two live in the same building?

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy

Originally posted by: aphex
Wow, I'm actually surprised how many decided to chime in here.

Let me just say a few things;

1. As I stated earlier, I have no intention of actually logging into their router and changing anything. The final sentence of my post was in jest, as referenced by the . My apologies if this was too subtle.
2. Yes, I fully understand that their racist / hate speech SSID is indeed protected under freedom of speech (see, Brandenburg v. Ohio) as this is not likely to incite or produce such action.
3. No, it's not directed towards me or my race but I still find it offensive, as I believe most others would as well. Not really sure why some would suggest I get over myself?
4. Despite this, I have every right to be annoyed by it as I can see it every time I'm working on my wifi connection (often lately), as can all the neighbors.

Just because something is simply words doesn't make it have less of an impact. They have every right to say it, and I have every right to be annoyed by it.

What's the SSID name? If you don't want to post it publicly, could you at least PM us if we request this vital piece of information? I don't doubt it was racist, but without knowing the specifics, this argument is pointless.

For what it's worth, I knew a black guy who would use handles like "DieN*gg*rs!" (no asterisks). He liked to get a rise out of people by being as offensive as possible.

I've neglected posting it because it's not something i'd like to repeat, but since so many have asked;

The ssid is; KILL_ALL_NiG**RS

So why don't you just backdoor them and send a message: "HEY WHITEY! WE N**GURZ ARE HAXING YOUR BOX!"