> These guys hacked into a machine connected by ethernet with an idle wifi adapter
And having an idle wifi adapter like that is common nowadays. For some reason, many desktop PCs intended to stay in a single fixed place come from factory with a built-in wifi card and built-in antennas. You'd think that would make these PCs more expensive, but apparently wifi cards are cheap nowadays?
I worked for an MSP (Managed Service Provider) when the pan hit. A bunch of our clients took their workstations home (CAD designers) and couldn't get online because they had no wifi.
I understand wanting to save a few bucks times dozens of employees, but I always thought my company was fucking stupid for letting them purchase those machines with no backup for if their network card failed. Turned out this was a much worse situation.
All that said, if you aren't using wifi to connect to the network, turn the damn thing off.
> A bunch of our clients took their workstations home (CAD designers) and couldn't get online because they had no wifi.
> I understand wanting to save a few bucks times dozens of employees, but I always thought my company was fucking stupid for letting them purchase those machines with no backup for if their network card failed. Turned out this was a much worse situation.
That's not exactly a difficult situation. Get an external wifi adapter. They're currently $10-$20 on Amazon.
You don't need to invest in exotic preparation for a problem that is so trivial to fix when it arises.
> All that said, if you aren't using wifi to connect to the network, turn the damn thing off.
Sure, but as a hacker who just hacked that machine, i can just turn it back on and you probably won't even notice. i can probably make it hard for you even TO notice.
WiFi and Bluetooth are usually provided by the same device, and it makes sense to want Bluetooth on a desktop. So you get WiFi essentially for free if you get Bluetooth.