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Some jerk trying to do something to our internet.
lordscrach
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Some jerk trying to do something to our internet.
Now unfortunately I wasn't there so im only going on what my boss has told me happened, and he know nothing about computers. We have a little shop. With a really old computer system. 3 pc all win xp. an old wifi router. Our software is old so this is a "not broke, no need to replace, till and customer data base system"
Any way some bloke comes in and says he's moved into the apartments over the street and cant get the internet there. Wants to know if he can pay us to use ours. wanted to look at the router. Now I don't know if he got a look at it. Or a look at out pc's. im guessing he used his phone to scan for wifi networks. (how else would he know we have one) coz it is old I think it only has WEP security and the password is written on it.
Now I know that these apartments can have internet coz a while ago I looked into buying one. Also the router is so old and shit it doesn't even reach the upstarts office threw the floor, let alone the apartments about 100m away. Also there is a bar closer to him that has free wifi. So this is making me thing this guys plans are more nefarious.
Think he's trying to get the WEP password out of my boss so he can get a look at computers. But for what reason I cant work out.
Now I know WEP is supposed to be easy to crack if you have some know how and some equipment.
So anything I can do that is not going to cost any money to stop this guy, and any way of telling if and what this guy is trying to do.
Any ideas and suggestions welcome
Now unfortunately I wasn't there so im only going on what my boss has told me happened, and he know nothing about computers. We have a little shop. With a really old computer system. 3 pc all win xp. an old wifi router. Our software is old so this is a "not broke, no need to replace, till and customer data base system"
Any way some bloke comes in and says he's moved into the apartments over the street and cant get the internet there. Wants to know if he can pay us to use ours. wanted to look at the router. Now I don't know if he got a look at it. Or a look at out pc's. im guessing he used his phone to scan for wifi networks. (how else would he know we have one) coz it is old I think it only has WEP security and the password is written on it.
Now I know that these apartments can have internet coz a while ago I looked into buying one. Also the router is so old and shit it doesn't even reach the upstarts office threw the floor, let alone the apartments about 100m away. Also there is a bar closer to him that has free wifi. So this is making me thing this guys plans are more nefarious.
Think he's trying to get the WEP password out of my boss so he can get a look at computers. But for what reason I cant work out.
Now I know WEP is supposed to be easy to crack if you have some know how and some equipment.
So anything I can do that is not going to cost any money to stop this guy, and any way of telling if and what this guy is trying to do.
Any ideas and suggestions welcome
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Posts
It is possible to hack into WPA, but it's time consuming and most wifi hackers will just go elsewhere in search of an easier target before they spend hours or days trying to access a router that may not even get them anything for their time.
If he accessed one of your computers, check it for malware.
Change the password every 30-60 days like every other business.
Upgrade your router (~$50) if you are having connectivity issues.
Tell that guy to get lost.
~gavel~
If he really wanted to steal something off your computers then it would be done without coming into your shop.
go spend $20 on a new router that supports wpa if yours doesn't.
If this guy wasn't just looking to scam free internet access then he was after something other than your WEP password.
I went into the router log and for today from about 2pm to now there are tons of enters saying something along the lines of A load of stuff I don't understand and then something that looks like an IP address and then incoming session stopped.
Is this him trying to acsess it. Or is it lolly to be someone in the office next door phone trying to connect coz they have the same make router or something
a screenshot of the log might help
If your shop really has secrets that are worth all that effort then you really need to call in an IT security firm and get things sorted out.
They ran it 8 different times and it's basically
800 ping. 0.4 down. 1 up
Any ideas? Coincidence. Or has he done something
You need to change your password, the guy is most likely using your wifi whch was his purpose all along.
Like others have mentioned, change the security setting to WPA2. If the router doesn't support WPA2, replace it. If you replace it, turn off WPS on the new router just to make sure it's not easy for someone who shouldn't to connect.
The ping and change in speed you're getting makes me think he's probably doing some file sharing on your network rather than something truly malicious like packet sniffing, but who knows (and who knows what sort of shit he could be sharing). I would absolutely shut that down for the time being until it can be upgraded.
If you can't access the router's settings due to not knowing an admin password, I would just find the router's manual (should be trivial to find online), give the router a hard reset (push the little pinhole switch in the back), and set the router up fresh with WPA/WPA2.
The easiest way to prevent intrusions through wifi is to simply not use it.