My sister-in-law was just hit with a scam

[Lancero]

6. You'd be surpised at how many places don't think to secure a wireless connection...

Or how many intentionally, but unwittingly, unsecure it.

A lot of places are offering free wireless to pull in customers, it's seen as a convience that really doesn't cost much to implement, but well... Depending on how the business has their networks setup, if they improperly add in a public connection then they could easily give someone access to the entire network.

Another thing is that a lot of places don't bother updating things, which is a really bad idea. Some of the earlier wireless protection setups are very susceptable to hacking today, even by basic bruteforce attacks, so if the company hasn't bothered updating things then if someone really, really, wanted access to their wireless connection then it's possible for them to get it.

Another thing though is the dumbing down of wireless tech. A story came out on this years back, so this can also fall under the 'don't bother updating things' category.

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2471964/endpoint-security/brute-force-tools-crack-wi-fi-security-in-hours--millions-of-wireless-routers-vuln.html