Wifi advice

Autumn2016

Hi all,

I hope I am in the right forum - I am a pretty clueless internet user - I can surf the net but have no idea about the techie stuff behind it so I need a very simple answer ...

My flatmate has freaked me out by telling me he knows (and can somehow prove) I was on a website I told him I hadn't been on. Now there is nothing dodge about the website itself (I just don't like him being nosey or to know if I am shopping online or playing games or whatever - not his business) and he was right I was on it browsing however this was when I was in my room and he was not home so he did not see me on it.

I kept bringing this up and he finally told me he had put a wifi sniffer on our network to protect it but this is where he could see. Now I am so confused - I have tried googling this but I am getting more confused. What is a wifi sniffer? Can he see everything I do online? Can he see my screen - this message for example? Most importantly .. can I block it?

Clearly my flatmate is a bit of an odd one - I am planning to move out now as I feel really freaked out but I cannot move until end of May so I am willing to buy what I can to protect my laptop in the meantime.

Thanks for any advice offered

I_have_spoken

If the wi-fi in house doesn't have any encryption then, in theory, a wi-fi sniffer could log web-sites you visit and the contents unless the page is https.

That said, it would be a lot easier to do something like -

1) Set up logging on the router of requests for web-site addresses (DNS logging)
2) Sneak into your room and look at browser history on your PC

Mr.Generous

I agree, check the easiest things first. Is he / she checking on your own device? is he / she using the router to log use?

its going to be quite technical to check the router - and anyone who sets up dns logging will have changed the router access password so if you want to reset it to factory he / she will know you have been on it.

esuhl

Autumn2016 wrote: »

Clearly my flatmate is a bit of an odd one - I am planning to move out now as I feel really freaked out but I cannot move until end of May so I am willing to buy what I can to protect my laptop in the meantime.

It's a bit OTT, but you could use a VPN or something like Tor/TAILS.

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) creates a secure "tunnel" from your computer to a VPN server.

I haven't used a VPN service myself, so I can't recommend one, but a quick search brought up a few examples for around US$4 to US$6 a month. Alternatively, your academic institution or employer may have one you can use.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/test-centre/software/6-best-vpn-services-2016-uk-best-vpn-reviews-vpns-explained-3606160/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403388,00.asp

Alternatively, you could use Tor/TAILS. (Especially as it's free!) Tor (The Onion Router) is a program that creates a chain of encrypted connections, and works a bit like a VPN in that it encrypts traffic before it leaves your PC.

https://www.torproject.org/

TAILS is a live operating system that is pre-configured to use Tor in a controlled environment. This makes it much more secure, and much easier to set up.

https://tails.boum.org/

You download an image file, and boot your PC using that instead of Windows. Alternatively, you could run TAILS inside Windows by running it inside a virtual hypervisor such as VirtualBox.

https://www.virtualbox.org/

Tor/TAILS is fairly secure, but it's a major target for hackers and government "spying" agencies. Personally, I would not enter any sensitive information (such as usernames/passwords for valuable accounts), etc.

---

Whether you use a VPN or Tor/TAILS, all you are doing is encrypting everything before it leaves your computer and causing the decrypted content to pop up on a VPN server or Tor relay somewhere else.

If you use a work VPN, it's like using a work PC. Maybe Facebook is blocked, maybe your manager gets sent an email if you access dodgy sites, etc. The same could happen when using your work VPN. Essentially, you could be trading a nosy flatmate for a nosy boss or IT department.

With Tor/TAILS, again everything is encrypted before leaving your PC. The data are then bounced between several relays, each adding a layer of encryption. The first relay that you connect to will know your ISP-issued IP address (and your ISP will know that it's you using that IP address), but they can't see your traffic. The end relay can see your decrypted traffic, but have no idea of who you are, your IP address or even what country you are in.

Hope that makes sense!

macman

Basics: is your laptop password-protected?

I_have_spoken

OP, mention to your flatmate that Police and Justice Act 2006 contains -

Section 35. Unauthorised access to computer material, punishable by up to 2 years in prison or a fine or both

Autumn2016

Thanks so much for all the advice.

Yes - my laptop is password protected and there is no way he would have been able to access my laptop or see history in that way.

Our wifi code has been the same as long as I have lived her so I don't think he has done anything with the router.

Googling TAILS/VPNs but this seems complicated to set up.

I asked him again this morning about how he had seen what I was visiting online and he said he had set up a wifi sniffer. He works in IT so is quite savvy. When I asked him if he could stop the sniffer he just laughed? Does a sniffer run constantly or does he choose when to use it?

Really feel paranoid in my room now, thinking of compromising my deposit and one months rent to get out of here!

kwikbreaks

There are very simple VPNs which can encrypt your traffic from your laptop on. Take a look at https://www.tunnelbear.com/ You can get 500MB a month free rising to 1GB free for a tweet. If that isn't enough I think you can just buy unlimited use on a monthly basis. There are other free and low cost VPNs just as easy to use.

With a VPN the packets will be encrypted and useless to anybody sniffing the network even for plain HTTP connections.

http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/check-vpn-connection-actually-encrypted/ shows both how to check the encryption is working and one possible mechanism that may have been used to snoop on you. Not high tech at all just low tech googling for how to do things.

If you use public WiFi then TunnelBear or other VPN is worth using although most sensitive traffic will be encrypted by HTTPS anyway.

esuhl

Autumn2016 wrote: »

Googling TAILS/VPNs but this seems complicated to set up.

Hang on a minute! I'd forgotten about the Tor Browser Bundle. You pretty much just download it and double-click the icon.

https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en

Don't worry about verifying the image. That's only important if you want to verify that hackers or a government agency isn't trying to monitor you. Vital if you're a journalist in an oppressive regime, but not that worth the hassle if you're only trying to hide from your flatmate.