[elliottcarlson]

Not saying this was what happened, bu my netbook lists my broadband as Verizon Broadband Connection and displays it under wireless networks. If someone were to make a publicly available wifi hotspot under the same name, there is the possibility that someone not expecting the possibility of this to happen, to connect to the hotspot instead. Very low tech in nature, but just a random possibility.

[ay]

While in the US I've seen devices that have a SIM card and WiFi. I don't remember if it was Verizon or not, though. It could be that you use one of these ?

Or you insert the SIM card into the notebook itself ? If yes, would be curious to know which OS is it - I remember seeing that Windows grouped the 3G and WiFi connection settings into the same dialog, but since I do not use windows at all nor have a laptop h/w which would grok a SIM card, can't check.

And the theory you describe with the same SSID - indeed that would be very much possible to pull off. Assuming there is a nation-wide standardized SSID, it could easily trick people into connecting to it.

[elliottcarlson]

Mine has it built in, and it's a Windows netbook. The wifi and 3g are indeed grouped together and the name is pretty standardized, and I am pretty sure other 3g providers might offer the same standardization of their naming schemes.

Additionally, there are times my 3g connection does not show up correctly and I have to initiate it by dialing out (#777 I believe) as if it's a modem - but if the SSID of a wifi connection were there I could see someone who was not fully paying attention to click on that by accident when the default one does not show up right away.

[ay]

Wow, interesting, thanks! Hopefully at least the icons are different... If not - it's worth complaining about that somewhere so the MS folks can fix that - since it's a fairly obvious hole to exploit (and not too difficult to fix).

Any chances you might find some time to make some screenshots and blogpost them ?

[elliottcarlson]

Here you go - http://i.imgur.com/GgDAJ.jpg

The Mobile Broadband Connection doesn't always show up leaving the Wireless Network Connection list at the top. In this case you now see two entries for "Verizon Wireless" - the top being my broadband connection, the second one being my wireless routers SSID. Without paying attention and just working off of muscle memory it is feasible to go to an open network acting maliciously without realizing it.

[ay]

Indeed - in a hurry it is very much possible indeed to make a mistake (also, an average mom or pop would not necessarily know the difference between the "wireless" and "broadband"...

Mind if I steal this pic for a blog post ? (Or if you planned a write-up, I'd be interested in a URL. It's worth making a bit of noise around it so the MS guys think of it as a problem worth solving.)

[elliottcarlson]

Go for it - I don't have time for a proper write-up - would be interested in hearing about it if you do write something :)

[elliottcarlson]

Sure - will reply to this thread later on with one. Will change my SSID at home to match as well for real comparison.