I just have to ask, since the DU-DNS situation...

[The Backlash Cometh]

If someone were attempting to hack into your computer, which is landlined for the most part, and is also on a router, but has at least one laptop computer on the network with the wireless option always left on--how long would it take for the hacker to break in if he were working on it 24/7 and lived in the house next door?

Also, what if he has help from someone who worked at the cable company?

[whistler162]

1. Awhile....

If they can see your PC they maybe able to access, or try, the predefined hidden drive shartes, C$ on up. Then they would, if you have set it enter the correct administrator password or know one of your user names and passwords of a account with administrator rights.

This is all assuming that the wireless network is either open or using a easily cracked password to secure it.

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. A week? A month?

[SidDithers]

2. Hugh Jackman could do it in 60 seconds...

with a gun at his head, and ummm, other distractions.



Sid

[City of Mills]

3. With or without bathroom breaks?

But seriously (putting on a hacker hat) - you mention you're connected through a router. Do you use wireless encryption on your network? Let's talk about your wireless router. Did you change the default username and password? Do you have the "Remote Admin" function on the router enabled? If you do, and you have the default username/password setup, I could log into your router and change any of the available settings, clear the security logs etc.

From there, I can add my PC to the list of allowed computers on the network and then change the router to allow all PCs connected to it to 'see' each other. From there, I could send a dictionary attack against your 'Administrator' account, provided you did not change the name of it. Do you use a complex password? If you use a complex password (letters, numbers, special characters, more than 8 or so characters long) it would take a very long time to crack.

It's much easier to 'hack' a computer through social engineering - if I knew your email address (Facebook?), I may be able to send you a link that I could trick you into clicking. That link might take advantage of a vulnerability in your software which would allow me to install a backdoor program on your computer. I could then connect to the backdoor program to get around your security measures. This is just a general example.

It's a hard question to answer without knowing more details about your connection. But if you use some of the security measures I mentioned in the first paragraph, it makes things much harder for someone trying to probe open ports on your network.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Thanks for your thorough explanation.

I'm guessing that the only advantage to living close to the person you intend to hack into is to try to sneak into the network through the one wireless laptop that's always left on.

However, on my end of the house, the remote access is disabled, so I don't know if even that would be successful.

[City of Mills]

6. Your best bet

Is to go over your wireless router settings - log into your wireless router - change the admin password to something hard to guess (use letters, numbers and a symbol !*&#$). Make sure Remote Admin is disabled. Use encryption on your network, DO NOT use a password someone could guess like your name, pets name, address etc). If you have a MAC Address filter list, add the MAC address for all of your computer network cards that connect wirelessly (wireless NIC address).

A good article with more details is here:
http://www.wikihow.com/Secure-Your-Wireless-Home-Network


If you're running Windows OS, run "services.msc" and disable the following services:

Server
Computer Browser
Internet Information Services (unless you're running a web server, which I doubt)
Remote Registry

If you're using a work laptop (not your own), consult your IT department before you do any of the above Windows modifications!

These steps will reduce your attack surface quite a bit. A determined hacker can still work around some of these measures, but they will frustrate most script kiddies and amateur hackers.