Wireless networking security

Fenika · Nov 22, 2009

I have nice neighbors who are letting me use their internet. The guy is more techno savvy than I- He asked for my Mac address and said he'll set up my own network and all that. And he ofc warned me that if I go crazy with the bandwidth then he'll know

However, I'm wondering if someone could get on his system and see more than my bandwidth use- my email, my page views (mostly AW ofc), etc.

So is there a good program to 'scramble' my internet activity or otherwise mask it? I figure this type of security is good to have anyways given my use of public hotspots around town (and in NZ soon

)

Cheers

Matera the Mad · Nov 22, 2009

Does your neighbor use encryption and a password? If so, you are already protected. AFAIK there is not much you can do on your own if the network you are using is not secured.

I gave a business associate a mild lecture on wireless security yesterday. And made him do some guessing when I sent him the password to his new e-mail account!

Deleted member 42 · Nov 22, 2009

Matera the Mad said:
Does your neighbor use encryption and a password? If so, you are already protected. AFAIK there is not much you can do on your own if the network you are using is not secured.!

If he uses MAC addressing, it's not likely he's using a password.

And any traffic from her browser to the router is not going to be encrypted, is it? So passwords, credit cards, etc. would likely be sent in clear text and he or anyone with access to the router could use a packet sniffer.

Fenika · Nov 22, 2009

Currently he has a network with WPA encryption.

And since I never use my own internet, that's a big

with the credit card info. But isn't the page encrypted??

Matera the Mad · Nov 22, 2009

The page is encrypted, but the information has to get there first.

Fenika · Nov 22, 2009

On the bright side, I don't seem to be surrounded by hackers. Hopefully.

But I thought there were programs for this? There must be, it's 2010 almost!

My faith in my own internet security has clearly been too high...

Darzian · Nov 22, 2009

Hmm. I think the best you could do is employ password protection to limit access to the wireless network. I'm assuming this is safe as one can get.

Deleted member 42 · Nov 22, 2009

Technically, there is no such thing as a secure network, because there's not a lot you can do with the real security hole:

Users

Deleted member 42 · Nov 22, 2009

Fenika said:
On the bright side, I don't seem to be surrounded by hackers. Hopefully.

But I thought there were programs for this? There must be, it's 2010 almost!

My faith in my own internet security has clearly been too high...

There's stuff you can do, but you don't control your own router so . . .

RJK · Nov 27, 2009

Did you have to enter a key code to access his router as part of your wireless setup?
If so, he has a secure wireless network. If, when you first clicked on your wireless network icon, and it displayed his network, and you could click on it and you were in, it isn't secure, and that means people can access your computer through his router.

Fenika · Nov 27, 2009

Hello. Yep, there's a network key and it's secure. Everything is set up and the internet is working better than the old one (also had a network key).

Thank goodness for kind neighbors.

Wireless networking security

Fenika

Matera the Mad

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

Deleted member 42

Fenika

Matera the Mad

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

Fenika

Darzian

To-to-to-ron-to

Deleted member 42

Deleted member 42

RJK

Sheriff Bullwinkle the Poet says:

Fenika