Shared wifi

ouchy2012 · 27 March 2014 at 12:44AM

Hi if i am sharing wifi with other people in the house what information can they see?

Can they see my passwords. files, websites visited etc..

If they downloaded an app such as a network scanner what information can they get from my computer.

Is there any apps they could use to get this info.

Also one app i looked at says it can show you the computer logs on all computers/phones connected what exactly is that?...didnt try it as have to pay .

TIA x

closed · 27 March 2014 at 1:13AM

it depends.

if the router has the ability it can log websites visited

if the signal is unencrypted, potentially anyone in range can see your browsing

if it's encrypted, then potentially anyone who knows the key could scan for your network shares, and if you openly shared them, get at data.

just make sure you haven't shared folders, and use a software firewall, which is standard since xp sp2

the likelihood, unless you know better is none of the above is happening

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/netresview.html

kwikbreaks · 27 March 2014 at 11:59AM

So long as the site uses https (and virtually all do) your login details will be secure almost regardless of what some miscreant may do. Sites visited, local network, and anything unencrypted would probably be up for grabs but it would be a pretty sad individual who'd bother spying imo.

StuC75 · 27 March 2014 at 12:45PM

The main 'risk' is man in the middle attach, say if someone set there pc to be the access point (and its internet connection was shared out), this can allow some info to be unencrypted. but that would mean renaming the original routers SSID..

In the meantime turn off home sharing on your machine and ensure password is required to access it should eliminate most chances of them accessing files on your machine whether that be direct of via the home network..

cookie365 · 27 March 2014 at 7:47PM

What router do you have? Most allow you to set up a guest network with a different name and password.

That itself doesn't prevent them seeing what's on your computer, depending on the set up. The router may allow you to 'isolate' the guest network, which basically means they can access the internet but can't see anything else on the local network.