local hacker using radio signal to access the wireless interenet?

Question

My neighbor has a wireless internet access. The thing is that it is not protected or encrypted by any firewall or passwords. So today he came to my house and started telling me how someone in the neighborhood is hacking him and 3 hard drives were fryed for past few months and he is reformating windows every week or so because his windows keeps getting hacked and currupted. Its one long confusing story but what makes me wonder is that the hacker seems to be using a radio frequency to access his internet somehow. How can that be possible and how can the hacker be exposed? That beside the hacker was hacking my brothers laptop while my brother was connected to the same unsecured network and some of his files were moved from the laptop hard drive to the other PC at the neighbors PC. That being bad already the hacker seems to be taking pictures of people in the community and sending them to their PC desktops after hacking them.. any help is welcome..sorry for all this confusion in words.

Well my neighbor is getting some device of ebay for $200 that is supposed to track any radio signals out there. So he plans to track down the guy who does it that way. Its amazing how good the hacker is....its incredible. The neighbor is a computer professor at a university and really hardcore yet he is like a sheep waiting to be slaughtered because the hacker is so damn good and cant be traced back by any normal means.

Answer 1

You bring up a couple of things. First, the unsecured wireless network is just asking for trouble. Until this network is secured, problems will continue.

You said your brother is connected to the same unsecured network (with your neighbor's permission, I hope). Your brother needs to not connect his computer to this network. If other computers on the network (your neighbor's computer, for example) are already infected, then it is possible for viruses, worms, or other malware to travel to any other computer on this network.

If your neighbor leaves his wireless network unsecured, I wonder what other security lapses are there. Perhaps administrative user accouts without passwords, shared folders, unprotected network storage, lack of antivirus software; the list goes on.

The more that is unprotected, the easier it is to hack. It is very easy for a hacker to attach to this unsecured network using a portable computer in his car parked nearby, for example. What the hacker is doing is probably illegal, and this should be stopped, but the network and its computers should also be protected. You wouldn't leave a pile of money sitting on your front porch with it being "protected" by the fact that it is illegal for someone to take it.

Answer 2

Well, what you are proposing is kinda impossible since IEEE 802.1 networks are based on strickly short range capabilities. Long range network hacking is not far in the future, but it is still a dream. Your neighbor may want to contact his ISP if he truely suspects frequent foul play over TCP/IP internet connections.

Tell him to upgrade to XP SP2, download or purchase a reasonable antivirus (like Windows One Care http://www.windowsonecare.com) and use Windows Firewall. Also download Windows Defender, available when you install Windows One Care.Those tools will keep the average user protected. He should only need a tool such as ZoneAlarm or SonicWall if he or she is using what is called a Static IP Address.

Also, when he may want to purchase a new hard drive. Frequent failures and stop errors (blue screens) are the waning signs of a hard disk. After he purchases the hard drive, reinstall a full version of Windows. Encourage him to buy a fresh copy of Windows, especially if the one he has been using did not come with his computer or is pirated.

It seriously sounds like his problems are coming from a dying hardrive.

As for stuff being moved around whilst connected to the network, it really sounds kinda werid. Unpulg the router and then plug it back in and then secure the network. You may want to change some of the configurations (i.e. router address) to prevent unauthorized access. Personally, I'd encourage your neighbor to go wired. Wired networks are more inherently more secure at the most important level, the physical level. Wireless networks, especially unsecured networks, allow physical access by default, and I supose that when any network is physically accessed, anything can happen.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

I think he's just crazy and he's not being hacked in the fashion that he thinks he is. He's probably either 1) not being hacked at all or 2) being hacked over the internet and needs a firewall (www.zonealarm.com).

Answer 5

You can't protect the ignorant. He and your brother need to learn how to protect their computers. Here are a couple of sites that should be a good start.

http://www.internetinspiration.co.uk/computer_privacy_and_security.htm

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/

You can do a Google search for protection while using Wi-Fi and get lots of sites with information.

Answer 6

Your neighbor should be getting in touch with his provider to see what can be done to stop this.

Answer 7

What he/she is doing is a FELONY! Call you local authorities and report this person......