TR Forums

2003-11-22

TORONTO -- A half-naked man found driving on a city street was
arrested and charged with child porn offences this week in the first
Canadian case involving wireless Internet signal piracy, police said
yesterday. The bizarre case began when a Toronto police officer
spotted a motorist going the wrong way down a one-way street in a
residential neighbourhood.

After pulling the man over, Sgt. Don Woods discovered the man was
naked from the waist down as he downloaded images on a laptop
computer of a young girl involved in a sex act with an adult.

Investigation showed the man had hooked into a wireless computer
network at a nearby house to gain access to a resident's Internet
connection and download images from child pornography websites.

The scheme, known as "war driving," allows a computer with wireless
Internet capability to tap into a wireless home network and access the
World Wide Web, usually without fear of discovery.

"We have never laid a (war driving-related) charge before," Det.-Sgt.
Paul Gillespie said yesterday.

"And I'm not aware of any similar charges being laid in Canada,"
Gillespie said.

Gillespie said detectives from the child exploitation section made
arrangements with the OPP to search the suspect's home in Southwestern
Ontario.

"We seized 10 computers . . . and hundreds of CDs and floppy disks,"
he said.

"Right now, I would say we are looking at hundreds of thousands of
images."

Gillespie said it will take 20 to 40 hours to forensically examine
each computer, but so far, investigators have been exposed to some of
the worst child pornography they've ever seen.

"Right down to very young children and babies," he said.

Walter Nowakowski, 36, of Delhi, is charged with possession of child
pornography, accessing child pornography, distributing child
pornography, making child pornography and theft of telecommunications.

He was being held in custody and was scheduled for a bail hearing
Monday.

So-called "war drivers" employ a laptop and a special wireless adaptor
card with antenna, point it at a home or business and pick up
transmissions from a router that will allow them to use computer
equipment and access the Internet without permission.

Routers that link wireless systems can pick up a signal from 30 to 300
metres away.

Wireless systems that can be purchased for as little as $100 have
built-in security features, but some people don't activate them when
setting up, Gillespie said, warning users to read the instructions
that come with the equipment.