Help! Should I Be Worried?

BONJOEY

i just noticed someone in a small van sitting outside with a laptop and another device, he must of been there for 20 miniutes, i then thought he might be using my router etc, so i turned it off, then one miniute later he sped off!!!


should i be worried?

The_Economist

Make sure all your security features are enabled on your computer and it might be worth giving details to the local police just in case.

Reluctant_spender

Did you take his reg number?

If you are confident that your network is secure then I guess not.

Have a look here, about half way down the page - how to secure etc.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_security

BONJOEY

my router is wpa ,

i was quite concerned but my router does pick up other peoples networks that are not protected, dont knows who they are though?

can they access my comp if its wpa protected?

ubergeek

BONJOEY wrote: »

my router is wpa ,

i was quite concerned but my router does pick up other peoples networks that are not protected, dont knows who they are though?

can they access my comp if its wpa protected?

It is possible to access protected networks, WPA included (I've seen it done!). Any network that uses a Pre Shared Key (PSK) can be broken, but WPA is stronger than WEP; thereby making it more difficult.

Ref the police, accessing someones network is a level 2 offence against The Computer Misuse Act 1990

The_Economist

Take a look here and go to photo 6 of 14 on wards. http://www.computeractive.co.uk/computeractive/gallery/2167953/image-gallery-secure-network

patwa_2

A lot of people dont secure their networks, and it's also surprising how many businesses don't. I openly admit that I have used unsecured networks in the past, but never for downloads or anything which would impact their connection speed or use - usually it's because I have no choice, I'm in the town and need to check bus times, or someone's just sent me an e-mail that's urgent.

A lot of people that ask me to set up their networks, etc, will say they don't want security because they think it'll just be a nuisance to them. the truth is, if there are fixed desktops or laptops or mobiles that use your network, and they're the same people all the time, you can secure the network and then forget about it. You can set the computers to automatically connect to the network so you don't have to input the security key each time. those who do not have access will of course need to either break the key or give up and not use the network.

If you would rather not have a security key, the other option is to use MAC address filtering. This way the router identifies computers connecting to it via their unique address and not via a passphrase. This can often be more secure in the sense that if you have many different people connecting to the network, you can authorise their specific computers yourself, and not risk giving out the passphrase to them which may then be leaked to others - for example guests at a hotel or at a house party.

I use MAC address filtering myself, because I know there are only a few computers that will use my network. If a friend comes round and stays for a few days I'll ask for the MAC address before he arrives and he's all set to go with no config changes needed at his end. People coming over for a short time, e.g to repair their systems or borrow my net connection are usually asked to plug into the network at the network switch. This also gives them a faster connection.

H.

BONJOEY

so should i change my comp from wpa psk to wpa?

quite confusing

albertross_2

Mac address filtering on it's own is not secure at all, everything you do is going across the air, unencrypted, for anyone to see. Anyone who knows how to hack wireless encryption will be able to sniff your MAC address in seconds, and then replicate it on their system.

WPA-PSK/tkip with a www.grc.com/passwords key is the way to go, or use AES if your equipment supports it.

bonjoey, no wpa-psk is what you need to use, but if you have a short dictionary word as a key, it is better to use a longer one 20-63 characters, and pref random.

The van, even if sniffing, won't have cracked your network in 20 minutes.

BONJOEY

thanks for the info i think i will change my password.

just getting paranoid now that they will be sitting waiting for me to do this and then get my password lol

albertross_2

do it wired.

The strength is in the length, as they say. 63 character gibberish is uncrackable, unless you have a few decades/centuries of networked supercomputing power to throw at it.