Wireless Connection Question

A neighbor has a wireless network in his home and a person about 2 blocks
away came to him and told him that he knew everytime my neighbor logged onto
the internet and helped him setup security and stop broadcasting across his
network. We both have become very curious as to how this guy knew this and
what did he see on his network that would tell him just exactly whose
network was not secure. Curious minds need to know!

Thanks

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On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 01:47:35 +0000, JE wrote:

> A neighbor has a wireless network in his home and a person about 2 blocks
> away came to him and told him that he knew everytime my neighbor logged onto
> the internet and helped him setup security and stop broadcasting across his
> network. We both have become very curious as to how this guy knew this and
> what did he see on his network that would tell him just exactly whose
> network was not secure. Curious minds need to know!
>
> Thanks

He has a utility that scans for access points which gives details about
what the SSID is, what type of wireless encryption is used, the channel
being used and the signal strength. The utility comes with the wireless
card but XP comes with a Windows version and Linux comes with a few
wireless analyzing tools. SSID broadcasts and lack of encryption allows
hackers (or neighbors) easy access to the wireless network. If the type of
encryption used is WPA, then SSID broadcasts are not a significant
security issue. It is best to secure the wireless network because of
possible legal problems due to illegal activities by hackers or neighbors
such as copyright infringement (illegal file transfers or music or movies
or whatever).

Thanks. I have not done much work with wireless but plan to in the next
couple weeks. It's becoming quite popular so I guess I need to get my feet
wet.

Thanks



"johnny" <johnny@n0sq.us> wrote in message
news:pan.2005.08.24.02.29.19.622251@n0sq.us...
> On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 01:47:35 +0000, JE wrote:
>
>> A neighbor has a wireless network in his home and a person about 2
>> blocks
>> away came to him and told him that he knew everytime my neighbor logged
>> onto
>> the internet and helped him setup security and stop broadcasting across
>> his
>> network. We both have become very curious as to how this guy knew this
>> and
>> what did he see on his network that would tell him just exactly whose
>> network was not secure. Curious minds need to know!
>>
>> Thanks
>
> He has a utility that scans for access points which gives details about
> what the SSID is, what type of wireless encryption is used, the channel
> being used and the signal strength. The utility comes with the wireless
> card but XP comes with a Windows version and Linux comes with a few
> wireless analyzing tools. SSID broadcasts and lack of encryption allows
> hackers (or neighbors) easy access to the wireless network. If the type of
> encryption used is WPA, then SSID broadcasts are not a significant
> security issue. It is best to secure the wireless network because of
> possible legal problems due to illegal activities by hackers or neighbors
> such as copyright infringement (illegal file transfers or music or movies
> or whatever).
>
>
>

JE wrote:
> Thanks. I have not done much work with wireless but plan to in the next
> couple weeks. It's becoming quite popular so I guess I need to get my feet
> wet.
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
> "johnny" <johnny@n0sq.us> wrote in message
> news:pan.2005.08.24.02.29.19.622251@n0sq.us...
>> On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 01:47:35 +0000, JE wrote:
>>
>>> A neighbor has a wireless network in his home and a person about 2
>>> blocks
>>> away came to him and told him that he knew everytime my neighbor logged
>>> onto
>>> the internet and helped him setup security and stop broadcasting across
>>> his
>>> network. We both have become very curious as to how this guy knew this
>>> and
>>> what did he see on his network that would tell him just exactly whose
>>> network was not secure. Curious minds need to know!
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>
>> He has a utility that scans for access points which gives details about
>> what the SSID is, what type of wireless encryption is used, the channel
>> being used and the signal strength. The utility comes with the wireless
>> card but XP comes with a Windows version and Linux comes with a few
>> wireless analyzing tools. SSID broadcasts and lack of encryption allows
>> hackers (or neighbors) easy access to the wireless network. If the type of
>> encryption used is WPA, then SSID broadcasts are not a significant
>> security issue. It is best to secure the wireless network because of
>> possible legal problems due to illegal activities by hackers or neighbors
>> such as copyright infringement (illegal file transfers or music or movies
>> or whatever).

Do you already own a laptop with built in wi-fi? If so you could do a bit of
pre-planning by looking for nearby wi-fi signals and learning which channels
they are using. You then want to avoid those channels when you set up your
system. If you have WinXP get free netstumbler software for this purpose. It's
not foolproof and won't find hidden SSIDs but is a good place to start when
setting up your wireless network.
Netstumbler is probably how your neighbors network was discovered but then other
software was used to sniff his traffic.

Thanks for the info. I will be getting a laptop with built-in nic.


"DanR" <dhr22@sorrynospm.com> wrote in message
news:JY_Oe.1981$L77.148@newssvr19.news.prodigy.com ...
>
>
> JE wrote:
>> Thanks. I have not done much work with wireless but plan to in the next
>> couple weeks. It's becoming quite popular so I guess I need to get my
>> feet
>> wet.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>>
>>
>> "johnny" <johnny@n0sq.us> wrote in message
>> news:pan.2005.08.24.02.29.19.622251@n0sq.us...
>>> On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 01:47:35 +0000, JE wrote:
>>>
>>>> A neighbor has a wireless network in his home and a person about 2
>>>> blocks
>>>> away came to him and told him that he knew everytime my neighbor logged
>>>> onto
>>>> the internet and helped him setup security and stop broadcasting across
>>>> his
>>>> network. We both have become very curious as to how this guy knew this
>>>> and
>>>> what did he see on his network that would tell him just exactly whose
>>>> network was not secure. Curious minds need to know!
>>>>
>>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> He has a utility that scans for access points which gives details about
>>> what the SSID is, what type of wireless encryption is used, the channel
>>> being used and the signal strength. The utility comes with the wireless
>>> card but XP comes with a Windows version and Linux comes with a few
>>> wireless analyzing tools. SSID broadcasts and lack of encryption allows
>>> hackers (or neighbors) easy access to the wireless network. If the type
>>> of
>>> encryption used is WPA, then SSID broadcasts are not a significant
>>> security issue. It is best to secure the wireless network because of
>>> possible legal problems due to illegal activities by hackers or
>>> neighbors
>>> such as copyright infringement (illegal file transfers or music or
>>> movies
>>> or whatever).
>
> Do you already own a laptop with built in wi-fi? If so you could do a bit
> of
> pre-planning by looking for nearby wi-fi signals and learning which
> channels
> they are using. You then want to avoid those channels when you set up your
> system. If you have WinXP get free netstumbler software for this purpose.
> It's
> not foolproof and won't find hidden SSIDs but is a good place to start
> when
> setting up your wireless network.
> Netstumbler is probably how your neighbors network was discovered but then
> other
> software was used to sniff his traffic.
>
>