A proposed law for Westchester County, New York, would make it against the law for a business or internet cafe to leave their wireless networks on the default settings. County Executiy Andy Spano wants the law to "protect the public from identify theft and other consumer fraud." With studies showing that 30%-50% of wireless networks are unprotected, the concept is worthy. I've been talking about the need for people to secure their Wi-Fi networks for years.

However, legislating that store owners and businesses will have to "secure networks that protect the public from potential identity theft and other potential threats such as computer viruses and data corruption," that's a tall order for a local coffee shop to fill. The recommendation in the press release to "install a firewall" falls way short of protecting consumers that use the hotspot, which begs the question, who will decide how secure is secure?

(via Engadget)