The sad reality is that these days there are a lot of hacker enthusiasts who are not averse to profit from someone’s Internet. Most of them just expect to get free traffic. However, there are also those who can use access to someone else’s Wi-Fi to accomplish their dark deeds.
Who might need your Wi-Fi?
The safest case is when Wi–Fi is stolen by those who simply do not want to pay for the Internet. Today, when unlimited tariffs reign, the loss of several megabytes of traffic is often not noticed by anyone. But there are worse options.
The router can be hacked to steal personal data, search for vulnerabilities in gadgets for further access to bank cards and correspondence.
How does this happen?
They hack Wi-Fi in the same way as everything else – by brute force password or special programs. The latter, hackers either get on the Internet, or create with their own hands. To select a password, you do not need special skills, except the ability to use a search engine and a well-functioning head.
How to identify the fact of Internet theft?
The first and most obvious sign that the Internet is being stolen is a drop in its speed. Modern browsers can also start showing alerts in the spirit of “We have registered suspicious traffic coming from your network.” But all this is not accurate, because the speed could fall due to the provider, as well as malfunctions in the operation of the device itself. It is best to look into the admin panel.
The second way is the “admin panel”. The web page with which the router is controlled is what will allow you to accurately identify the fact of theft. Access to this page is provided to the user when signing a contract with the provider. If access is forgotten or lost, then you can find it out again through technical support.
In order to get to the page, you should type the router’s IP address into the browser bar. Most often it looks like 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1. However, you can just look at the address on the cover of the device. You can also specify a hostname. Most often it is something universal in the spirit of “routerlogin.net “.
Once in the admin panel, we are looking for a list of devices connected to this router. You can do this in the list of DHCP clients. But not everyone is connected using this protocol. You can view the gadgets connected to the modem via Wi-Fi in the section “Wireless network” (“Wireless”) – “Wireless mode statistics” or “Active devices”. You can also look at the items “Device List”, “Clients”, “Available devices” or “Connected devices”.
The third way to identify the fact of hacking is to install a separate software that will show all devices connected via Wi-Fi. There are quite a lot of such programs. For example, Who Is On My WiFi or Wireless Network Watcher.
How to protect yourself from hacking?
In order to protect yourself from hacking, first of all, you should change the standard password to something more creative and complex. It is best to use combinations of several short words.
In addition, you should choose an encryption protocol. This is a special type of protection that does not allow outsiders to connect to the router. It is best to use the WEP and WPA protocols or the TKIP algorithm. There is also the WPA2 protocol with the AES algorithm. You can select the appropriate protocol in the wireless connection menu in the “Protection” or “Encryption” section.
You can create a list of “white” MAC addresses with devices that are allowed to connect to your network. However, such protection is suitable only against amateur hackers. Specialists are most often able to determine the MAC.
Finally, do not neglect the psychological impact. Rename your network to “Satana666”, “с:\troyan.exe “, “I’m pregnant from you”, “13 black cats” and so on. Such names will only amuse experienced hackers, but amateurs who like the free Internet may be scared off.