All Questions
Tagged with security wireless-networking
267
questions
159
votes
10
answers
26k
views
Is it really possible for most enthusiasts to crack people's Wi-Fi networks?
Can most enthusiastic users (even if they are not professionals) use well-known techniques to break through the average home router's security?
Some basic security options are:
strong network ...
- 1,439
105
votes
11
answers
388k
views
Display list of computers on a LAN in Linux
I'm a web dev who is trying to get a better handle on security. I'm trying to figure out a way (on Linux/Debian based distros) to list all computers on the same LAN my netbook is on. I tried "arp -n" ...
- 2,395
36
votes
3
answers
28k
views
Can other people on an encrypted Wi-Fi AP see what you're doing?
If you connect to an open, unencrypted Wi-Fi access point, everything you do can be captured by other people within range.
If you connect to an encrypted point, then people nearby can intercept what ...
- 7,581
32
votes
4
answers
30k
views
Encrypted WiFi with no password?
Is there any standard that allows a WiFi connection to be encrypted, but not require a password?
i know that (old, weak) WEP, and newer WPA/WPA2 require a password (i.e. shared secret). Meanwhile my ...
- 22.5k
31
votes
6
answers
15k
views
How to put fear of God (law) into Wi-Fi hacking neighbors [closed]
I live in an apartment and some new guys have apparently moved into one of the apartments.
They have been shamelessly hacking into my WiFi.
Mine was initially a WEP encrypted network and out of ...
- 5,109
27
votes
5
answers
50k
views
How does a hacker in a public WIFI actually view your computer?
I've read that they can see what sites your viewing or even access your computer if you're connected on the same WIFI connection but how exactly?
- 5,533
26
votes
7
answers
2k
views
How can I protect myself while using public wifi hotspots?
I frequently need to access secure resources (gmail, banking, remote desktop, etc) while on public wifi hotspots. What can I do to ensure that nobody can sniff my passwords or my other browsing ...
- 2,427
23
votes
5
answers
9k
views
Is hiding your Wi-Fi SSID without password secure?
Is hiding your Wi-Fi SSID and setting it without a password as secure as when your SSID shown with a password on a technical level?
- 543
23
votes
5
answers
16k
views
Is https traffic over an unencrypted wireless network secure?
This is something I've wondered for a long time. If I am, say, using Gmail over https, can someone read my IM conversations and emails if I use an unsecured wireless network? I assume that the data ...
- 824
21
votes
3
answers
9k
views
Is a hidden network with "X" security less secure than a non-hidden network with that same "X" security?
From casual reading over the years, I've frequently encountered statements to the effect that hidden networks (i.e. wireless networks that does not broadcast its SSID) are unsafe, and that you should ...
- 1,207
20
votes
3
answers
51k
views
What does the RADIUS server do in a WPA2 Enterprise setup?
I'd like to upgrade my WiFi from "WPA2 Personal" to "WPA2 Enterprise" mode because I know that in principle, on a WiFi secured with "WPA2 Personal", devices who know the PSK can sniff on each other's ...
- 455
17
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Is securing Wifi with MAC Filter enough?
I have a MAC filter in place for everything that connects to my router. I also have WPA2 on the wireless.
When a friend comes around, I tell them the password (I trust them), they type it into their ...
- 1,095
17
votes
2
answers
12k
views
The wireless network appears to have been compromised and will be disabled for about a minute
I just received a message on my Mac OS X system telling me:
The wireless network appears to have been compromised and will be disabled for about a minute.†
(It's a wireless WPA2-PSK secured ...
- 335
15
votes
3
answers
41k
views
Where Are Wireless Passwords Stored on Mac OS X?
After the Snow Leopard update I can't connect to my home wifi router.
I removed it from Network Preferences and from Keychain but when I reconnect it will not ask me for the password.
All other ...
- 592
14
votes
3
answers
156k
views
Is the wifi password stored somewhere in windows-7? [duplicate]
One of my friend connected me to the wifi in our area . Now my computer automatically connects to that wifi. I don't need to enter the password. I wanted to browse internet using my android phone. ...
- 377
14
votes
1
answer
42k
views
Removing wlan0mon created by Kismet
I have been playing with the aircrack-ng tools, and also Kismet to see how my networks appear.
Kismet creates a monitor interface wlan0mon which it uses for scanning.
With airmon-ng I can create and ...
- 289
13
votes
7
answers
18k
views
Why is MAC-based authentication insecure?
Most wireless routers can use MAC-based authentication as part of their overall security scheme. It seems like a good idea, but I've heard that it is very ineffective, because it's easy to spoof MAC ...
- 1,176
13
votes
3
answers
80k
views
Your connection is not private - Attackers might be trying to steal your information
I would like to know what does this error message means in the chrome and when I try to access in my case hotmail and I get this below message and if I try to access gmail or yahoo or facebook I do ...
- 281
13
votes
4
answers
33k
views
How do I configure my Linksys routers to resist the WPS brute-force vulnerability?
US-CERT recently released Vulnerability Note VU#723755.
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/723755
In short, this describes how modern wireless routers can have their PSKs discovered within just a matter ...
- 13.9k
12
votes
2
answers
4k
views
How can I detect unauthorized access on my 802.11 g/n network?
I am using a wireless network and I want to make sure that no unauthorized users are connecting through my access point. I am using the standard encryption the device supports. I know it is a ...
- 7,926
10
votes
3
answers
12k
views
Should I Upgrade My Old Wireless Router?
I have an old wireless router, and I mean stone age old (5 years). There is nothing wrong technically with the router, it serves my wireless needs at home but it is really darn old. A search on ...
- 338
10
votes
3
answers
19k
views
What kind of information can my University gather regarding my internet use on the University’s network?
I attend a large University and use their network for just about everything. Although I realize security measures probably differ from campus to campus, on a typical University-wide network, how ...
- 351
10
votes
5
answers
39k
views
Is "guest network" feature on ASUS routers safe?
My ASUS RT-AC68U router has an option to enable a "guest network". I'm curious how "safe" this is. The config page claims that it only allows traffic through to the internet, so I assume it physically ...
- 1,518
9
votes
5
answers
791
views
Advice for a Defcon Virgin
I have never attended a Defcon convention before and I am very excited to be attending this year. I need some help in making sure I am prepared for the event.
- If I bring my laptop and connect it to ...
9
votes
2
answers
3k
views
How can I configure my wireless network for the strongest security?
There seem to be many security features in wireless routers from MAC address filtering to the authentication type and data encryption. WPA or WPA2 PSK? AES or TKIP?
When I set up a new wireless ...
- 1,568
9
votes
2
answers
12k
views
Can I be a root certificate authority for my local network?
This may sound crazy, but can I be the root certificate authority? I mean, I have many computers and smart devices in my home.
Remote Desktop warns for the certificate not being trusted, because it ...
- 3,994
8
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Why does router send packets to the multicast address?
I have a computer running linux and it has ufw activated with a couple of simple rules set. It is connected to ASUS 4G-N12 router by wifi. When I looked in ufw logs a few days ago it turned out that ...
- 91
7
votes
2
answers
720
views
Is LastPass vulnerable to FireSheep attacks?
Say I was at Starbucks and wanted to use LastPass... would FireSheep users be able to steal the password/cookie/session?
- 1,872
7
votes
6
answers
84k
views
Why can't I connect to the wireless network after the network password was changed?
My family changed the network password and some other network settings after new computers were brought into the house, because apparently they wouldn't work with the settings or password we had.
(...
- 229
7
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Tenda MW6 mesh is talking to baidu -what is it doing?
I recently picked up a set of tenda MW6 mesh units - I'm running this in "bridged" mode, since that's the only option that turns off their dhcp server. The primary mesh unit connected to a DIY linux ...
- 130k
7
votes
3
answers
94k
views
Windows 7 : Any way to disable "show caracter" in WIFI network properties?
Here's my issue. I'm working in a school as IT Tech and I'm currently planning to roll out Windows 7 on students laptop.
The issue is : When you go to the properties of a WIFI network, you have the ...
- 1,723
7
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Security on wireless mouse and keyboard
At work I am using a wireless mouse and keyboard. I was sitting at my desk this morning wondering if and how they are secured against key loggers.
What stops another device from listening to my ...
- 8,299
6
votes
2
answers
6k
views
What security does the wpa_passphrase tool actually add to a wpa-supplicant configuration file?
I was looking at this guide to setting up a wifi connection on a modern linux system (specifically raspbian, but I assume the steps are similar in other linux systems) with only a command-line ...
- 195
5
votes
2
answers
335
views
How Safe Is SSL In a Public Place (Airport/Coffee Shop)
If someone is monitoring all of the traffic on a network, and then I connect to it, and log into a website that is protected with SSL - is there any security risk?
- 847
5
votes
7
answers
694
views
How can I secure my home PCs when my neighbors are allowed to connect to the internet through my home wireless router?
This is a follow-up question to What are the ways to monitor and limit the internet connection speed that individual computers are getting from my wireless router?.
How can I make sure that my home ...
- 1,213
5
votes
4
answers
700
views
How secure is it to use a password hash of a common English word as a WPA2 key?
I have a wireless router, and I want a difficult password that is still, in a way, easy to remember.
I came up with this idea to take the MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, or whatever hash of a common English ...
- 152
5
votes
2
answers
4k
views
How can I prevent Windows 10 from sharing wifi details with my contacts?
In recent release of Windows 10 we could see a new feature named wifi sense, which raised the following security threat as per this blog post :
This brilliant new feature, which Microsoft has ...
- 8,170
5
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Can attackers harvest WiFi passwords by spoofing ESSID?
I've recently started using wireless on an (Arch) laptop.
My wireless manager (wicd) is set up to automatically associate with any networks with a certain ESSID and attempt to authenticate with them.
...
- 53
5
votes
3
answers
991
views
How Wifis and wifi security work?
I see tons of videos dealing with WEP cracking, but actaully none of them teach about how Wifis work. They are just a bunch of commands thrown at the screen. Where can I learn about the inner ...
- 175
5
votes
3
answers
2k
views
I think someone else has access to my wireless network. What next?
I kust realized that some other PC is also getting assigned a IP address (DHCP Lease) from my modem. I am sure this is not one of the PCs in my home.
My modem was using WEP security. I know WEP is ...
- 667
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How to stop Windows 10 from adding WiFi networks under the authority of some "Network Provider"
I was having major trouble with my internet connection, earlier today, and, when the solution became apparent, I noticed something terribly worrying. The problem was that my notebook was not actually ...
- 1,198
5
votes
2
answers
3k
views
How to avoid an insecure initial connection on public Wi-Fi networks before the VPN is enabled?
It’s a best practice to use VPN when you connect to public Wi-Fi networks. However, in the scenarios I am aware of, you first connect to the network and only then—after connected—switch to VPN. In ...
- 126
4
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Secure setup of home wireless network [closed]
How to configure home wireless network to ensure that it is sufficiently secured and at the same time its usability is not restricted.
EDIT
Just to clarify by "usability is not restricted" I meant ...
- 1,732
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Are WiFi transmissions over an open network encrypted?
By "open" I mean the router does not require a password to connect.
- 3,011
4
votes
3
answers
930
views
Risks of using WiFi instead of Cable Internet
I want to know what are the risks of using the WiFi internet instead of the cable.
why the cable is more secure ?
why the the WiFi is more vulnurable ?
- 145
4
votes
2
answers
12k
views
Tor + Public Wi-Fi ... safe?
If I were running a virtual machine, with all traffic always being sent and received through Tor, would this be safe on a public Wi-Fi connection? Surely my traffic cannot be sniffed as it's encrypted?...
- 41
4
votes
5
answers
337
views
best practice procedure for browser use on unsecured WiFi
At this posted question is the advice
you need to always check that the SSL connection shows up green in your address bar and/or manually double-check that the certificate is valid when using ...
- 1,438
4
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How are Wi-Fi passwords sent to the router securely?
Maybe I'm just being stupid, but whenever you type the password to gain access to a certain Wi-Fi network, how is the password sent to the router securely? Wouldn't it be easy to intercept the ...
- 151
4
votes
3
answers
9k
views
Can traffic be inspected through WiFi?
Let's say I am browsing an HTTP accessible web site (i.e. NOT HTTPS). Is the traffic encrypted through the WiFi connection?
In other words, is there "data privacy" functionality over WiFi - ...
- 6,734
4
votes
5
answers
2k
views
On unencrypted public wifi, what kind of real danger am I in?
First, my setup
Windows 7 Home Premium
use the built-in firewall
UAC on max
in Windows' wireless network settings for public networks, besides the default settings, I have 1)set to block all media ...
- 1,333