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There's an article in today's Sun about a bloke in Cornwall who had his laptop confiscated by the police for sitting outside someone's house and using their unsecured network.

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I think it may transpire that he was doing rather more than that. There are other reasons for hijacking a network, other than getting free access. The guy may have been accessing illegal websites, or using the victim's network to send out illegal material. I doubt whether the police would go to such lengths over a first-offence of broadband theft.

It's easy to determine if the laptop had been connected, the router should have a log of the laptops MAC address in its routing table. The MAC address is a unique identifier (no other network device will have the same MAC) that all network devices must have. Of course this can be spoofed to make it look different. but if the guy got caught then chances are he didn't do that.

Unless the piggbacker ruses a Locally Administered Address - easily done to.

Or the router is switched off.

No I think that the worse bit (assuming that the Sun have been quoted correctly) is that the Police seized the alleged perp's laptop. Under what statute I wonder.

In reply to:

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No I think that the worse bit (assuming that the Sun have been quoted correctly) is that the Police seized the alleged perp's laptop. Under what statute I wonder.

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Almost certainly as evidence of the alleged crime.

I hope that was the case because he original piece didn't quite put it that way.

>>Under what statute I wonder.

Preservation of evidence, sorry I can't remember what section but it is probably covered by PACE somewhere.

S.

absoloutely, and for prevention of any further offences for good measure