[Ren Qian]

What is the simplest way to find out if my wi-fi is being hacked into? I'm running intel imac 10.5.5 with a router supplied by my internet provider. Sometimes internet slows right down and even freezes up completely. I know there are variables like 'throttling' and such but I would like to know if I have any piggy-backers as I live in a large apartment complex. Any succinct and concise info would be greatly appreciated.

[turtle777]

Depends on the router.

Some have an option to see what devices are connected to them.

But the easiest fix: chose WPA2 and a secure password, and you're good to go.

-t

[Big Mac]

You'll see other devices being assigned DHCP addresses if other devices are connecting. It may be your router or your ISP - most likely your ISP.

[ghporter]

What turtle777 said. Security is simple and easy to set up, and WILL keep people from using your bandwidth.

The "secure password" part is just as simple. Use some online random password generator to create a bunch of VERY random, VERY long passwords and copy them to a text file. Save the text file on a USB thumb drive. Now when you need to allow a computer on your WiFi network, just copy the password you chose (one of the many you created) from the text file and paste it in the password dialog box. No possibility of mistyping, and your long, random password is very secure.

(The ONLY exploit against WPA is in the form of a brute force dictionary attack on VERY SHORT passwords containing dictionary words. Random and long are your friends.)

[Ren Qian]

Thanks everyone. I actually found the appropriate forum for this topic below as well.

[Cold Warrior]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

(The ONLY exploit against WPA is in the form of a brute force dictionary attack on VERY SHORT passwords containing dictionary words. Random and long are your friends.)

The Register had an article about what could be more effective brute force attacks against WPA and WPA2 using GPUs. I'm not sure how the effectiveness scales against very long passwords.

[ghporter]

There's nothing really quantitative in either the Register article or the vendor's stuff about how fast their distributed system can break how large a password. Lots of numbers, yes, but nothing with any references.

WPA and WPA2 use encryption based on the RC4 algorithm, which is very secure. It is computationally infeasible to attack successfully (with a strong password) due to the enormous number of combinatorial inputs and outputs. Again, poor passwords are the weak link, and a long, complex, random password will make for a very strong security choice.

I use the password generator here to generate 63 character, random passwords that include all the options (mixed case, numbers, punctuation). You could also use the Entropy widget to generate passwords one at a time. I produce literally scores of passwords, then randomly choose one (or hack them into chunks and jigsaw them together), thus producing a large collection of very random passwords.

Add to this the very large unlikelihood that a hacker is going to set up the 64 processor grid needed to really take advantage of the software mentioned in the Register's article, and you wind up with something that is robustly secure against all reasonable threats. If the NSA wants to know your credit card numbers, they can probably crack your credit card company's system faster than they can crack your WPA2 encryption, and they're busy with international terrorists and the like, so I personally don't sweat their capabilities.

[bearcatrp]

Just to add, shut off the ssid so it will not send out a signal letting everyone know there is a wireless router out there.

[Cold Warrior]

Originally Posted by bearcatrp 

Just to add, shut off the ssid so it will not send out a signal letting everyone know there is a wireless router out there.

That may stop casual leechers but not anyone who knows how to click a button on kismet.

[Ren Qian]

Originally Posted by bearcatrp 

Just to add, shut off the ssid so it will not send out a signal letting everyone know there is a wireless router out there.

I changed my password to WPA personal but how do I turn off the ssid? I'm using a Speedstream router that I can't access with Airport Utilities. Not really sure how to access my router to adjust things. Thanks for all the help guys.

[ghporter]

Your SpeedStream, like every other brand except Apple, uses a browser-based interface to manage it. Open a new browser tab or window, and type the appropriate IP in the address box. In the case of your SpeedStream unit, you may need to just type "http://speedstream" instead of an IP. Of course you MUST be WIRED to the router to configure it. Check your router's documentation for details on what you can do and how to do it through this interface.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Ren Qian 

I changed my password to WPA personal but how do I turn off the ssid? I'm using a Speedstream router that I can't access with Airport Utilities. Not really sure how to access my router to adjust things. Thanks for all the help guys.

Forget about turning off the SSID. This doesn't make it anymore secure if you aleady use a good WPA password.

-t

[jonnyz1245]

my understanding is that wpa is a fairly robust security method. curious to know who in my neighborhood could hack into my system via WPA

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by jonnyz1245 

my understanding is that wpa is a fairly robust security method. curious to know who in my neighborhood could hack into my system via WPA

Do you live near the NSA? Unless you have a ridiculously short or otherwise lame password, it would take a HUGE amount of processing power and lots and lots of time to break a WPA key.