Are wifi pinapples illegal?

[♤♤♤]

Hi, I've recently heard about these "Wifi Pinapples" and how they can create a fake wifi connection with fake credentials. I thought this was pretty interesting, but I had one question. Is this illegal? Of course it's probably illegal for malicious uses, but I mean would it be illegal for stuff like pentesting?

[Just_a_User]

4 hours ago, ♤♤♤ said:

Is this illegal? Of course it's probably illegal for malicious uses, but I mean would it be illegal for stuff like pentesting?

I don't know about every countries law but if you have contractual permission from the network/company owner i don't see how it can be illegal as to me it seems you would effectively be temporarily employed to test "your own" network. I would be surprised if any country finds that illegal.

EDIT - or maybe there are counties where having one in itself breaks local laws. let alone using it. if so let us know.

Edited August 19, 2019 by Just_a_User

[♤♤♤]

12 minutes ago, Just_a_User said:

I don't know about every countries law but if you have contractual permission from the network/company owner i don't see how it can be illegal as you would effectively be temporarily employed to test "your own" network. I would surprised if any country finds that illegal.

Makes sense. Thank you

[digininja]

The whole point of the Pineapple is for legitimate security testing and research. I've not heard of any countries where it would be illegal to use for either personal research or where you have a legitimate business reason.

[INFOTRACE]

4 hours ago, digininja said:

The whole point of the Pineapple is for legitimate security testing and research. I've not heard of any countries where it would be illegal to use for either personal research or where you have a legitimate business reason.

Great response.........

 

14 hours ago, ♤♤♤ said:

Hi, I've recently heard about these "Wifi Pinapples" and how they can create a fake wifi connection with fake credentials. I thought this was pretty interesting, but I had one question. Is this illegal? Of course it's probably illegal for malicious uses, but I mean would it be illegal for stuff like pentesting?

It depends on what hat you are wearing.......my hat is white......I can understand that it could be used for illegal activity, but us (legit) 'good guys' see it as a must for our work and obviously our clients. You can use a transmitter and monitor the emergency services, but if you attend a scene and are caught transmitting the information you could be charged. However, that would depend on which country you were in and the laws associated to that place. In essence, use the item legitimately and prove that you were employed to do so (unless you are doing it for/on your own devices/systems) and you should be fine (IMO).

Hope this adds to digininja's helpful comments😎

[F0x3nB0x3n]

It's network equipment.  The legality falls entirely on how you choose to use it - if your usage is legitimate (e.g. testing) and authorised, you should be fine.  If it's to steal information or gain access to that which you're not authorised to access....not so fine.

[Cap_Sig]

Its like a lot of other things,  its not about owning it but how the device is used.