Just a little warning

going2die_rich

I don't intend on going wireless Reduces some of the risk being networked up through Cat6 cable rather than wireless. Still risks from the internet but at least no one can try and hack my connection from next door or in a white van as stated by the opening post.

Most people don't even need a wireless connection since they have one PC in the house and it's almost always in the same room as the router/modem anyway. Most of these people being very limited in their techie knowledge yet taking up less secure technology because it's the latest gadget.

s-j-cooper_2

going2die_rich wrote:

I don't intend on going wireless Reduces some of the risk being networked up through Cat6 cable rather than wireless. Still risks from the internet but at least no one can try and hack my connection from next door or in a white van as stated by the opening post.

Most people don't even need a wireless connection since they have one PC in the house and it's almost always in the same room as the router/modem anyway. Most of these people being very limited in their techie knowledge yet taking up less secure technology because it's the latest gadget.

I would agree that loads of people don't need wireless networking, especially if using a desktop that never moves! It is the same with wireless games consoles - unless the console moves around there is not much point (I understand that there are exceptions though - so don't shoot me down people!).

superscaper

There do seem to be some people who get wireless because it seems "better" or THE technology to have when they don't really need it. I think we can defend needing it as we have three desktops in different rooms, a laptop which may be anywhere in the house (or even in the garden office) and 3 PDAs with wireless capability. I've come across many unsecure networks around my home town but in the last six months the majority are now secure rather than vice versa. And I do doubt that's that easy to hack a wireless network.

Streeet

Consdiering home use only:

Totally agree with "Disable Identifier Broadcasting".. if people cant widely see your network they'll be less inclined to 'play' with it. Also the performance hit of WEP isn't worth not having it. Finally turning down your signal strength may be an option. Why broadcast your network half way across the street when you only need it in your living room!

All that said.. if you did manage to get onto a network.. getting info out of other machines is another challenge in itself. Hopefully the majority of users run some sort of firewall etc etc.
The worst your inquisitive next door neighbour would probably do is steal some of you bandwidth!

I dont get to excited about this stuff.. You'd be more successful finding personal info in peoples bins than trying to crack a personal wireless network and the hardware behind it. (imho)

sco0ter

spurs1234 wrote:

As for TheImportanceOfBeingIdle comments i think he's lying!

There are not many programs that are windows based that work at all, most are linux and you have to use a certain type of wireless card to crack it and i doubt very much TheImportanceOfBeingIdle know's which toye that is.:D

The most widely used Linux based one IS available in windows format. It will work with any Atheros based chipset (except USB adapters) and also has a packet injector that will let you speed up the packet gathering process. All of the tools (including the actuall WEP/WPA packet cracker) are now available on windows format and the hardest part of using them is getting the correct Atheros compatible drivers for your card. Everything has now gone from the Linux command line to option menus to pick and start everything.


Oops forgot to say... When using these tools it doesnt matter if you disable SSID it will still see and identify it

prudryden

Am I missing something here? If your reuter only recognizes certain MAC numbers, should it not see someone trying to get in without that MAC and then tell them to go away?

superscaper

Probably a difference between hacking into the router and decrypting the WEP for intercepting the data, in the latter case you don't need to get into the router.

Streeet

Only if your router is setup to accept certain MAC addresses.
By default alot will accept any.

You can however spoof a MAC address!

prudryden

Streeet wrote:

Only if your router is setup to accept certain MAC addresses.
By default alot will accept any.

You can however spoof a MAC address!

Now I'm worried!!!! My router is setup to accept certain MAC. But how is it possible that my neighbor can see my username.

Omertron

prudryden wrote:

Now I'm worried!!!! My router is setup to accept certain MAC. But how is it possible that my neighbor can see my username.

If you've followed the advice in the thread (Hide your SSID, use WPA protection and have MAC authentication on) I would think it extremely unlikely that your neighbour would be able to see anything on your network. It'd be easier for him/her to break in and logon to your PC.