Unsecure Wi-Fi Access And Child Pornography Charges – Houston Criminal Defense Lawyers
Houston criminal defense attorneys have come across a number of instances recently involving men charged with accessing child porn on the Internet after their Wi-Fi servers were compromised and illegally accessed. These instances should serve as a warning to Houstonians who believe in leaving their Wi-Fi routers unsecured.
In New York and Florida, FBI officers have conducted raids on homes where they traced downloaded child porn. However, the officers soon found after investigations that the homeowners were not the ones who had downloaded the images. Neighbors who managed to gain access to the Wi-Fi routers, downloaded thousands of images of child porn, alerting the FBI. In most of these cases, the officers were able to investigate and determine that other people had accessed the porn through Wi-Fi routers.
Leaving Wi-Fi routers is a widespread practice in Houston. Most people who do so believe they are being generous to outsiders who wish to access the Internet by leaving their Wi-Fi routers open. However, this habit is isn’t without its pitfalls. Your Wi-Fi router could be used for illegal activities, including downloading child pornography. According to the Computer Emergency Readiness Team, users can make their networks invisible by disabling a function that announces the presence of wireless access points to others. If you have an open wireless router, you must know that you will not be able to quickly determine if someone else is accessing your router for illegal activities.
Child pornography charges are some of the most serious crimes that you can be charged with. These belong to a category of crimes in which persons may be assumed by society to be guilty until they are proved innocent. Secure your Wi-Fi routers, and protect yourself from unauthorized access to your WI-Fi networks.