Wireless Network Used in Extortion

An Australian man in Rockhampton has been arrested for trying to extort money from people. Here’s how he did it.

  • He gained access to other people’s wireless networks. This is fairly easy to do, even if you turn on WEP encryption (read about securing a wireless network here). By using other people’s networks he was harder to locate
  • He sent users threatening messages, made to look like they came from elsewhere
  • He then demanded money to be dropped off at a specific location
  • And he repeated this a total of 12 times

Suitcase full of moneyThe police were able to find him and arrest him. It’s important to secure your wireless networks so that other people don’t use it to commit crimes.

Full article here.