I was sitting at home one morning and noticed my router and modem's lights were flashing so I checked out the list of "attached devices" to my router. Suprisingly enough, I found an unauthorized device (wireless computer) on my network (I had no other computers turned on at that point). I have a print screen of the MAC Address and Device name now, so what can I do with those bits of information? Also, my network was secured with 128 bit encryption (WEP)--which means he/she broke through the security protocols and I JUST turned off my wireless SSID Broadcast. What else can I do to secure my network?
2007-08-03 05:02:21 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Computer Networking
Get WAP or WAP2. WEP can be crack in less than 6 minutes with software that injects packets to create traffic in your wireless network.
In my opinion the only option you have is to use MAC filter contrary to what some other person said. Since you will be using inclusion instead of exclusion the person first need to determine what is a valid unfiltered MAC address. Sure it is childs play to fake the MAC address, but how will they know which one to fake? Unless they already scanned your network and know the one your PC is using in which case you are already DOOM!
You can also use RADIUS authentication if you want to get fancy and have the resources to have such server running all the time.
Turning off your wireless SSID broadcast will not help at all. There are tools to discover the wireless router with turnoff broadcast.
Get yourself a new wireless router with WAP or WAP2 security if yours don't have it.
2007-08-03 06:30:46 · answer #1 · answered by Manny 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Switch to WPA or WPA2 encryption if your sytem supports it. If it doesn't, look for a firmware update that implements it.
Or, just change your WEP key more frequently. And make SURE that you are NOT using one of the pre-configured WEP keys on your router! Those keys are all well-known and are the first thing that a cracker will try when attempting to break into a system.
FYI, there's not a lot that you can do with the MAC address or device name information. Since the interloper is wireless it will be nearly impossible to locate him or her. Enabling MAC filtering won't help you much. Bypassing that is childs play, especially for someone savvy enough to crack WEP, and can actually lock you out of your own network.
2007-08-03 05:25:56 · answer #2 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Another thing you can do is access your router(192.168.1.1 usually). Change it's name, change the SSID, and then change the password. You will have to change the setting on all computers you use to connect through that router to reflect the new SSID and password.
I hope this helps.
2007-08-03 05:10:21 · answer #3 · answered by Roy T 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
WEP is not very secure, hiding an SSID won't prevent someone from finding it.
Use WPA if you want real security.
2007-08-03 05:30:07 · answer #4 · answered by Pfo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
WEP is not very good protection. If you have to use it, change your key often.
2007-08-03 05:07:15 · answer #5 · answered by Viksicom 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋