Who is stealing my wi-fi?
in [Mac Systems]
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From: Charles Dyer on 2 Mar 2005 16:22 On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 13:49:55 -0500, Marc Heusser wrote (in article <marc.heusser-03ADB0.19495402032005(a)idnews.unizh.ch>): > In article <0001HW.BE4B4FCE000DE942F03865B0(a)news1.news.adelphia.net>, > Charles Dyer <charlesd(a)newsguy.com> wrote: > ... >> Next up, it has a 'Wireless Security' control section on the built-in HTML >> control site at that gateway address. I turned on 128-bit security and made >> sure that all the machines on my wireless net had the proper (extremely >> long >> and annoying) hex key input into their systems. > ... >> 3 the WEP key is yet another non-trivial assemblage of alpha and non-alpha >> characters. > > WEP is weak, tools to break it in hours to 2 weeks (depending on > traffic) are publicly available (128bit does not help either). > If you can, switch to WPA. Unfortunately I found out _after_ I got the router that it doesn't do WPA. At least it does 128-bit WEP, which is better than nothing. The next time I buy hardware for the home net I'll get a WPA router, or something better if anything like that is available. Yes, anyone who _really_ wants in can get in. But as I _know_ of three unsecured wireless networks within a half mile of me, why should they bother unless _my_ net is the target? And if _my_ net is the target for whatever reason, WPA ain't gonna keep 'em out, either. The only safe way would be to turn off wireless. Of course, the non-wireless computers on the net are behind a _different_ router, and everyone has firewalls on and sharing off except when deliberately turned on to do specific tasks and then turned off again immediately afterwards. I consider this basic security, like making sure the doors are locked. Will it stop all intrusions? Hell, no. A determined hacker can still get in, and a real pro won't be slowed very much. Same as a determined burglar can force his way in, or a locksmith could pick the locks. But this will keep the casual war-driver from just driving by and 'borrowing' my bandwidth to send spam, or dropping some warez on one of my hard drives, the way that locked doors keep casual thieves away. We don't need total security, we just need to be more secure than other possible targets. Casual war drivers, like petty thieves, go after the low-hanging fruit because they're _lazy_ bastards. If getting into a particular net looks as though it'll make 'em work, even a little, and there are other nets around which they can get into with zero effort, they're not going to bother me. -- We are Microsoft of Borg. You will be assimilated. Stability is irrelevant. Where _you_ want to go to today is irrelevant. We will add your currency to our own. Bend over right now. Resistance is futile.
From: Carl Witthoft on 2 Mar 2005 17:45 Only one other responder has mentioned that it's quite possible that no outside person is connecting whatsoever. First of all, it's highly unlikely that someone else is carefully only connecting when the OP is not logged on, so all he has to do is search his network neighborhood (or equivalent) for other addresses online. Next, all routers "chat" continuously with the modem to send or respond to connectivity queries from the ISP source. Blinking LEDs are in no way exclusively an indicator of traffic from another user.
From: Gnarlodious on 2 Mar 2005 17:47 Entity J. Stewart spoke thus: > just exactly how long have you been a member of the Aryan Nation? Have you paid attention to the news the past few years? The Aryan nation isn't the enemy any more. In fact, they get called "White Supremacists" while anyone with brown skin gets called "Terrorist". With their insidious neurolinguistic programming techniques they have made "brown" equal "enemy". > Am I being paranoid? It's possible to think so. I have 2 access points here in the city and both have been wide open for years. -- Gnarlie Cybergasted: Astonishment at this internet content
From: G.T. on 2 Mar 2005 22:19 "Tom Harrington" <tph(a)pcisys.no.spam.dammit.net> wrote in message news:tph-60A34F.09270402032005(a)localhost... > In article <4225d03f$1_1(a)baen1673807.greenlnk.net>, > "SRMoll" <stephen.no.spam.please.moll(a)amsjv.no.spam.please.com> wrote: > > > So a better analogy would be the water tap I have in my garden to water the > > plants. If someone walks up to it and without permission takes away a bucket > > of water, has that water been stolen from me? I personally would be a little > > miffed that someone used my tap without asking, but I still wouldn't > > consider it theft, because even though I pay for that water to be delivered, > > that cost stays the same no matter how much I use, so I've lost nothing. > > Geez, where do _you_ live? Around here we get charged based on the > amount used. And if the total goes over a certain threshold, the rate > increases. But I guess that's just because we've had a multi-year > drought. I'm surprised to hear that unmetered water is available > anywhere these days. > There are quite a few water districts that provide free water in the US. I think there might even be some here in California. Greg
From: Kevin McMurtrie on 3 Mar 2005 00:55
In article <carl-5697A8.17451102032005(a)comcast.dca.giganews.com>, Carl Witthoft <carl(a)witthoft.com> wrote: > Only one other responder has mentioned that it's quite possible that no > outside person is connecting whatsoever. > First of all, it's highly unlikely that someone else is carefully only > connecting when the OP is not logged on, so all he has to do is search > his network neighborhood (or equivalent) for other addresses online. > > Next, all routers "chat" continuously with the modem to send or respond > to connectivity queries from the ISP source. Blinking LEDs are in no > way exclusively an indicator of traffic from another user. Routers send maybe 5 packets every 5-60 minutes for ARP. That hardly keeps the lights blinking. |