The Free Public WiFi viral is a cool phenomena. Windows, for some reason, broadcasts itself over wifi using the name of the last known wifi node it connected to. At some point someone used one called “Free Public Wifi”. When they disconnected someone else spotted them and tried to connect, only it didn’t lead anywhere but Windows still used the name. So someone else spotted them and tried to connect. And so on. I think I saw this on my travels a few times and was wondering why a free public wifi network was operating as a machine rather than basestation. Here’s a great quote:
When I saw the “Free Public WiFi” nodes multiplying like rabbits, I was actually watching other notebook users spot the connections and try to hook up, then disconnecting.
Fascinating. I’ve seen this a couple of times, both on the train.
Ahh.. Security Now did a whole series on this. I forget the details, but I think the first episode transcript is this one. It’s a great, if very geeky programme, by the way.