In Westchester County, it could soon be illegal - repeat, illegal - to have an unsecured Wi-Fi signal. According to a new proposal being considered by Westchester politicians, any business or home office with an open wireless connection but no separate server to fend off Internet attacks would be violating the law. It's easy to see how this could become a nightmare scenario for the casual Wi-Fi user - driving around downtown White Plains, city officials detected 248 wireless connections in less than 30 minutes. ZDNet has more details:

"Politicians in Westchester County are urging adoption of the law--which appears to be the first such legislation in the U.S.--because without it, "somebody parked in the street or sitting in a neighboring building could hack into the network and steal your most confidential data," County Executive Andy Spano said in a statement.

The draft proposal offered this week would compel all "commercial businesses" with an open wireless access point to have a "network gateway server" outfitted with a software or hardware firewall. Such a firewall, used to block intrusions from outside the local network, would be required even for a coffee shop that used an old-fashioned cash register instead of an Internet-linked credit card system that could be vulnerable to intrusions..."

According to one Westchester official interviewed for the article, the law would apply to home offices as well.