Have we gone from wardriving to warjacking? An activity that used to be done as a sport is now becoming a major criminal activity it seems.

Have you ever hopped onto a stranger’s unsecured Wi-Fi connection? If so, you’re not alone.

According to Jupiter Research, 14 percent of Wi-Fi consumers have logged onto a neighbor’s network in the last year.

Leeching off a neighbor’s wireless connection seems pretty harmless. But it gets ugly when the leech uses that connection for activities that are illegal and/or reprehensible.

For example, in June 2004, two men plead guilty of hacking into Lowe’s computer system through an unsecured Wi-Fi connection at one of its Detroit stores. The two men cracked Lowe’s computers in six states and altered the home improvement retailer’s sales system in order to steal credit card numbers.

Earlier this month, a Florida man was charged with the felony offense of unauthorized network access for sitting in a parked car so he could mooch someone’s home Wi-Fi. Authorities didn’t say what exactly he was doing via that Internet connection. [Read the rest]