From the article: 10 Tips for Wireless Home Network Security
Have you been the victim of a hacker who compromised your wireless network? Without proper wireless network security precautions in place, you can easily have valuable personal data stolen, your computers infected with spyware and crashed, or just be randomly harassed. If you've experienced such an attack, tell us what happened and what measures you've taken to protect against future network security problems. Have You Been a Victim?
All of my bandwidth suddenly used up
- I normally use a '3' dongle for Internet access on my laptop. However, last week I used a friend's Wifi whilst at their home. Since then, when I have used my dongle my data has been used up within a couple of hours of topping up (I pay around £10 per month normally). I have topped up twice in the last few days and my allowance has been used up in between 30 minutes and an hour. This is impossible on my usage so I believe someone has hacked into the computer and is using up my allowance. I have contacted '3' several times but they insist that I must be using it and only seem interested in selling me more gigabytes for less money which I'm refusing to do. They say it is impossible for any hacking to take place and I am frustrated as I am getting nowhere with this and can't use my laptop which I need for my business.
- —Guest Allan Smith
Hijacked from the West Coast
- My computer as well as my iPhone was subject to a attack. The first sign I should have acknowledged was the warning sign that the web address did not match. So I bypassed it as I mostly just play online poker but to my surprise I join a table and my picture is seated across from me and the attacker is saying hello and taunting me from my account. When I researched who was active it listed 4 addresses from Seattle to Los Angeles. The next day I log on and all my settings were changed. Subsequently my computer got completely shut down. I am intimidated and afraid to go back on as all my bank info was on the computer.
- —Guest PMack
Unexpected data plan usage... hacked?
- My monthly Virgin bill was nearly £100 (more than USD $150). Something wrong. Noticed Wifi activity when not using, thought usually had turned off Wifi. Didn't make that many calls to mobiles.
- —Guest stanleyella
WEP? Gimme 3 minutes..
- Although it may be prerequisite as a Pen-Tester/Auditor to be able to accomplish such tasks, I have been regularly able to decipher WEP key's in very little time, with very minimal (or no) presence detection. My average time for breaking WEP encryption? 3 minutes. WPA, although not fail-safe, is a simple way to greatly increase the security of your WiFi network. Thanks for the practical, plain-spoken guide to increasing network security, as the common misconception that WiFi (even with WEP) is secure causes more problems that most could imagine. Although I appreciate the business, I feel for those that have been compromised when they were under the impression that their security was intact.
- —Guest The IT Jerk
Teen hacker comprised family accounts
- We have a hacker who disabled my...daughters alarm system, stole her IP [address], stole my passwords to accounts which I now cannot get into and stole my wireless IP and other personal information. This teen needs to be caught, because if he is capable of all this, then what else is he doing that we should know. I know who he is and where he lives, and I hope he will get caught. I cannot even get into my e-mail because of him. I'm currently looking for ways to protect myself from this happening again.
- —AMDiaz
Using powerline instead of wireless
- I turned off the wireless feature of my router and I have connected my router to a powerline Internet network that uses the electric [wiring] of my apartment. I now have the security of an Ethernet network instead of WiFi, and as a plus less electromagenetic radiation in the apartment.
- —Guest Skopar
Rogue DHCP server / router attack
- For some time now I have been the victim of a Rogue DHCP server menace. I have the usual wireless router with two laptops (regretfully one O/S Vista Ultimate with the server capability).
- —Guest Dan Jordan
My connection used for illegal downloads
- I just learned today that my wireless modem wasn't set up properly when I received it from Qwest so that it was private. It was essentially a free spot and someone has been downloading DVDs illegally for the past month. I was totally freaked out - felt like someone had broken into my home. I've decided to turn off the wireless feature on my modem and just connect by cable - just feels safer that way.
- —Guest Cindy
Hacked for 3 years with no solution
- Network: router/wireless network/computers/printers/internet service provider/residential phone line. Using top virus, malware, firewall programs. Have tried using expert diagnostic/cleaning/removal software to recover. Also tried FDISK of harddrives, replacement of drives, DriveScrubber to clear drives - these only helped a day or two then hacked again. Am unable to access router online to change SSID, password, settings. Has gone on for over 3 years. Nothing so far has been able to prevent it.
- —Guest At End of My Rope
Possible artificial load w/pay per use
- [Suspecting this] due to my my mts modem was running too fast with prepaid recharge value.
- —Guest jagdish
Man in the middle
- I'm the ad hoc admin for our landlord's network, setting it up but denied access to implement full security as the spouse didn't want hassle of complex or rotating pass or keeping other elements secure. We were short of PGP. One night my roomie and I were working online when we were both knocked off the network. I'd been watching Netbios & DoS ports for awhile in the logs but f/w held. Our laptops didn't recognize the name of the network, so I had to re-enter network info they should have already known. That was all they needed to redirect our wireless to another router. Trace route showed two more routers between us and our own router downstairs, both un-named. Often trace just timed out. Next came rootkits, and remote administration. We were trapped. I frequently cleaned out my DNS cache but my landlord's spouse denied permission to reset the router downstairs to block port attacks or harden the network. Security Logs are erased.
- —Guest kandiamo
