A shiny new laptop computer can be had for as little as $500, lightning-fast DSL Internet service has dropped to $14.95 a month and a wireless router costs $50 or less.
Welcome to the golden age of wireless, where every day, thousands of average Joes and Janes are making that cordless leap onto the information superhighway.
At least 13.2 million U.S. households will have wireless home networks by the end of 2005, up from 9.1 million in 2004, according to IDC Research, a tech analyst based in Massachusetts.
A broadband connection coupled with a wireless router allows consumers to set up a home office at the dining-room table or outside by the pool. But that cordless convenience could carry a heavy price.
Roughly two out of every three wireless signals are left unencrypted, according to Internet security experts, which means anyone with a laptop and a $20 wireless card could tap into an unsecured signal to surf Web sites or check e-mail.
Some might take it further.
A small subset of computer-savvy hackers has the know-how and gadgets for more nefarious activities. Through an open wireless connection, a criminally minded hacker could commit virtual identity theft by accessing your computer files, sending spam, stealing your credit-card numbers, even trading child pornography.
Even worse, whoever owns the wireless network could be held liable, said Sacramento County, Calif., Sheriff's Lt. Bob Lozito of the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force. "If they're doing these things under your identity, it comes back to you," Lozito said.
The mobile nature of these crimes makes them hard to trace.
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