Ok, I can see being totally paranoid about using public internet cafes - I was in one once somewhere far-flung and happened to see behind the curtain - there was no Mr. Wizard, but there was a machine that looked like it was at least logging (visibly) web usage, possibly sniffing more.

I guess I don't fully understand the sheer paranoia that some people have on their home networks, unless you do a significant amount of highly sensitive work product at home?

For an average Joe-user who uses his computer for checking movie times and restaurant reviews, do they really need tempest shielding, hermetically sealed cable conduit, and RSA SecurID key fobs to access the internet? Won't just enabling most of the out-of-the-box functionality in a retail-bought router enough to discourage the average looking-for-a-free-internet-connection person?

I would think that if you were that concerned about someone targeting you so specifically that they would go after your WEP keys and do traffic analysis, you must be doing some level of work that would probably justify not having wireless at all, or having a "hard" break switch between you and the 'net.

I would think your first concern would be the more vulnerable stuff - physical security of your house, your mail (what, you get credit cards in the mail?), keeping nothing in your wallet but your ID and and the absolute minimum - it amazes me when I see someone open their wallet and they have their SS card! Yikes!

Yes, I'm familiar with Cain and some of the other MITM tools, and I've played with all the Linux-based Snarf-ing tools, but if all I wanted was a free internet connection, there are always tons of SSIDs in an area you could probably use.

If you want to say that part of it is just a hobby and the "fun" of making your environment totally secure, I'm totally down with that, and I can see where part of the challenge is challenging yourself to see if you have every possible screw turned.

But to think that there are people out there targeting you specifically and willing to go to (not difficult) lengths just to get to your cable modem seems like a stretch.

This is all discussion about home networking, of course, in hotels and especially the random internet cafes, all bets are off!