Does neighbors wireless net endanger me ?

I visited my daughter and was playing with her new laptop.
She uses 56k hookup.

A window popped up and listed two available wireless networks.
Just for laughs, I tried to hook up to one and it worked.

Is this connection one way or can the network owner see anything on
her machine? If so, are there settings to protect her computer ?

thanks,

 

using someone elses node isn't exactly legal. I would let your neighbor know that he/she is at risk of being compromised. As for your daughters laptop, if it is connected,then it can be seen on that network but no acccessed without the proper authentication (user / password).