A reader contacted me this weekend with a question about unauthorized logins to their router. Most routers allow you to track the IP addresses of logins to the administrator console. According to this reader, an IP lookup traced the address back to a domain in China. The log in doesn't appear to be causing any damage and wouldn't be noticed unless the owner was actively looking for it.
It's good security practice to check your router regularly for hackers who may be breaking into it remotely. Others in the past have claimed seeing unauthorized logins to their routers, too, also allegedly from China. Have you? Post your comment here to discuss.
I use MAC addressing exclusively. This eliminates basically all threats. Each piece of wireless gear has it’s own MAC address that is exclusive to itself. Anything else is not allowed. Use MAC addressing and forget the other security built ins that are offered with the router and your firewall, they are worthless in comparison to MAC addressing. If the remote computer doesn’t match the MAC addressing table in your router, it’s blocked dead. This was backed up by a Microsoft geek from Leesburg VA that is a friend of my brother, I’ve been using it for years, but my brother was experiencing security issues. This was the recommendation from a Microsoft software engineer! Check your router to see if you can MAC address your equipment — even your WiFi phones!
Using MAC addressing is a good enhancement to security, but it isn’t the only/best solution. Yes, each device has it’s own unique MAC address, but there is software available to allow someone to “spoof” a MAC address. The MAC address filtering should be used in conjunction with other security measures to enhance security. One should disable Network broadcasting and one should also enable strong security encryptions (e.g. WP2 or WPA, etc). You can also limit who may have access to your router’s wireless signals by using a directional antenna that points toward the inside of your building and points away from public areas (roads, other buildings, etc).
I think using MAC is one the best practice to hacker from accessing your computer remotely. But if you use MAC without disable the remote access setting, the problem will stay exact. Do not just use the MAC and disable the other security settings keep all other security settings on.