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Author Topic: Surfing SOMEONE ELSE'S network  (Read 5125 times)

Offline beemaster

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Surfing SOMEONE ELSE'S network
« on: June 01, 2006, 12:23:48 am »
Here is a question. I disconnected my wireless network (completely) it is in the box, literally.

I have found 2 other wireless networks BOTH with good signals and can connect to both and surf fine - here is my question.

I have ZONE ALARM set to HIGH PRIVACY MODE (FIREWALL FILE SHARING NOT ALLOWED) supposedly I'm invisible to all hackers, etc..

Does the HOST I'm piggybacking have ANY access to my system in this "totally protective mode" I read it makes my IP invisible so I cannot be attacked, but does the host have ANY ACCESS, ALL ACCESS, NO ACCESS in a REAL WORLD SCENARIO????

I'm thinking one is my neighbor who has highspeed connection (gamer) and I read 6 to 12mbps speed with this connection. The second connection, I'm not sure about who that might be - neither seems to know I'm aboard, but WHAT ABOUT MY OWN PRIVACY ISSUES (anything I wouldn't want others to see) what gives????

I don't plan on riding this wireless server I'm surfing, but I know people do it every day - literally, I believe I'm riding okay here and not sure what happens on the other end to NOTIFY the host that I'm hitch-hiking him.

PLEASE - what is the good, bad and ugly of doing this. I don't think anything like an internet cafe exists around here - I cannot imagine a HUB setup on purpose other than a family serving their familie's needs.

Any input welcome!!!!
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Offline Understudy

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Surfing SOMEONE ELSE'S network
« Reply #1 on: June 01, 2006, 01:50:52 am »
Open nodes, what a can of worms they can be.
The good open node:
Someone who intentionally leaves the node open. Lets people join and surf. An open node can have some restrictions on it. Bandwidth, time limits, limits on ports.
The bad open node:
A bad setup someone who doesn't know squat about security sets up their wireless with no security at all. Usually ends up being hacked, flooded with viruses and trojans. This person is an easy victim of identity theft. The difference between the good open node is this person is clueless about the fact that they are so open. This person is usually a windows user.
The Ugly:
A person with an open node who is to stupid to realize they left the door open on their house and you decide to take a peek. He realizes it and calls the cops. The problem here is that because the bad user is to stupid to protect themselves properly and live in a cyberworld of fear and paranoia, you can be their victim. If the laws in your area are unclear or screwed up enough. You could set up your home network and accidently hit on your neighbors maybe you don't realize it right away. He finds a stay ip address on his network, calls the cops or the feds who have to justify their paycheck and make your life miseable because your neighbor is to stupid to setup wep and mac restrictions. This person is definitly a windows user.  

The thing to do is this. Stay off your neighbors network. If you are certain you know who owns the network and you get along with them you may want to kindly let them know they are running a network with it's pants down. You can also show them their p0rn collection and credit card numbers as proof. Well maybe not that but if it is a nice neighbor mention it , remember they may want to leave it open.

I do not want the next post on the forums to be " Help bail Beemaster out of jail and create Beemasters desperatly needed legal fund."

I travel frequently when I am in a hotel wired or wifi it is amazing how many people just leave their computers wide open. If I were a rotten person I could make a fortune however I will say their spouses might be interested in some of the things on their hard drives.

You mentioned running zone alarm. Set the range of ips to only that of your network . If all your neighbors are running the same change the range. If your are 192.168.0.0/24 change it to 10.0.0.0/24 or 172.0.0.0/24. Make sure you have only machines on your network allowed
to see one another. Restrict or close off file sharing.  

Of course I always recommend a FreeBSD or OpenBSD gateway/firewall box.  That way you can peek out and none can peek in.
 


Sincerely,
Brendhan
The status is not quo. The world is a mess and I just need to rule it. Dr. Horrible

Offline Hi-Tech

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Surfing SOMEONE ELSE'S network
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2006, 03:09:15 am »
I could not have said it any better. And here is another thing to add... If it is wireless B or G and set for WEP encryption, I can bust through that in about ten minutes....

Nothing is really safe. We are an ISP, with everything behind a cisco Pix and that behind a transparent openBSD box and we still got hacked by a couple of &&%$# French kids last month...

Go figgure...
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Offline wbanks

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IP Security
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2006, 04:21:11 pm »
Beemaster,

As a network and web admin I would suggest to you to get a top of the line firewall router if you are connected by cable or DSL to the Internet. Dial up not so much as your IP will change every time you connect. This makes things harder for crackers to find your computer on the net.

Network security is very much like home security, if someone is determined enough they will get into your home no matter what you do. The best you can hope for is to make it as hard as possible...thats were the firewall comes into play. Zone alarm and other software firewalls are better than nothing but a hardware firewall is much better as it doesn't expose your network to the Internet.

You do have to check and make sure all your ports are closed, there are many good websites that will test this for free and make good recommendations how to harden your network further...

Wireless appliances are very scary as the stream in open to the world or at least 600 to 900 feet from the wireless appliance. If you absolutely have to be wireless I suggest buying a WPA security appliance ( firewall) as this is harder (but not impossible) to crack then WEP.

Do not allow your appliance to broadcast its SSID as this only makes you that much more visible outside your home! If possible only allow the MAC addresses from your computers to connect to the router. These are good  features to look for before you buy a wireless router!

There are many sites devoted to securing your home network...I suggest everyone the has broadband access to read as much as possible about network security an apply it to thier network!

Will

Offline TwT

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Surfing SOMEONE ELSE'S network
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2006, 05:09:37 pm »
yup they said it the best, don't use someone else's network, they can look in their modem directory and see any ip addresses that are connecting through their modem.... suppose they no nothing about their wireless modem or how it works and call their modem support people to help them with some kinda problem, the support people take them to their modem directory and ask them all kinds of question about what their setup is and BOOM you are surfing their network,,, bad news for you and your neighbor will never forget it over the years..... always bad news!!!!!
THAT's ME TO THE LEFT JUST 5 MONTHS FROM NOW!!!!!!!!

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Offline beemaster

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Surfing SOMEONE ELSE'S network
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2006, 06:32:41 pm »
ThaNnks Guys for more info on this. Wbanks, I'm wondering what knowledge you might have on PHPBB??? I don't want to hit you up to soon (I see you are new) but it's nice to know who knows what and the forum is missing a visual text varifier program, making spam-bots bothersome.

Thanks for the words on hardware, I'll be looking to find recommended equipment from the CNETs and other sites who have great testing resources, etc. too. Thnks again and welcome aboard.
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Offline amymcg

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Surfing SOMEONE ELSE'S network
« Reply #6 on: July 17, 2006, 10:46:51 pm »
Hi John,

Just to echo, get a hardware firewall and set it up so only your computers' mac addresses can connect.

A

 

anything