OK some t0sser is using my network what can I do
 

Hi all

I have a wireless network, the security just fails all the time(cant lock it down the pcs just lose addresses left right and center.

Ive spotted too many ips on my network so what can I do about the rogue one? Ideally Id like to send him a message or something - any tools for this?

"Security fails all the time" and "PCs just lose addresses" sounds like you haven't got everything configured reliably. Therefore you can't expect to be able to prevent the intruder getting back in with any sort of reliability. Post up what kit you're using (including any other broadband routers and other devices on the network) and we'll try and help you out.

use 'net send' to send him a message, open a command prompt and type:

e.g. NET SEND "COMPUTER NAME or IP ADDRESS" "MESSAGE"

they will need the messenging service activated but as default its on so shouldnt be a problem there unless they have manually disabled it.

Mark

yeh ok, Im an MCSE ++++ I think I know if its my config or not, all pcs on the network just drop connections once encryption has been applied, no idea why but its a pain in the arse, the router is only a cheapy so not that much config available. Pay for what you get I spose.

Yep tried net send but it failed, was hoping there might be some other tools out there perhaps

Use Mac Address filtering instead of encryption.

What he said ^^^^

My linksys kept "forgetting" wep keys or was loading the wrong profile so binned that and went MAC filter. No probs since, occasionally check the addresses issued and no new ever appear.

Well if your config was that good you wouldn't have a problem or you would have configured it differently with your "MCSE knowledge".

As already said, set it to MAC address's also you should be able to hide the network name within the setup of your wireless access point. If your using DHCP then you could also set the DHCP range to match the amount of PC's you have on your network, so whoever the other person is, their PC wont get assigned an IP because there will be none available.

LOL - carnt fault him if your stupid enough to run without encryption :lol:

MAC address filtering is hardly an improvement over no security.

I never said it was?

I think we've found the problem :)

Use WEP (Win Encryption Protocol!)!! It is now common encryption on all/most latest wireless routers.......

ONLY You SPECIFY which Mac address has authentication on your network....:rolleyes:

Aceman :D

There was something on the beeb website about a guy who got a suspended jail sentance for stealing bandwidth from a wireless network.

"Win" encryption ;)

Go round your street with a cricket bat and batter anyone who has Net Stumbler installed !

The problem with MAC address filtering is if you only have 1 PC and the network card dies... I guess there might be a hardware reset on the actual router. :)

You don't need any software to discover an open wirless network. I still remember the story of police raiding a guys house for child pornography and removing all his PC equipment. It turns out the real purve was in a car with a laptop using the guys bandwidth !!!!!

Is your router assigning DHCP addresses? On top of what was said above like encryption, mac specific access and hiding the wireless SSID assign all your ip addresses as static ones.

Buy a decent wireless router. They're not expensive.

Doesn't take more than a few seconds to change ones MAC address to anything you like :)

If it's a Linksys you may be able to run the OpenWRT firmware on it to give you lots more configuration options. Are you running static IP's or DHCP? Are you running a seperate WiFi AP and DSL/Cable modem or is it a combined device?

I know there's some thread crapping going on but some of us do want to help :) PM me if you like.

Steve, I thought the MAC was hard coded into one of the board ROMS :confused: I do hold my hands up to not knowing much about networking though! ;)

As like Rich has said, how the heck do you change a MAC address? Microsoft ban xbox users by MAC address if they try dodgy copies of games, surely if you could change MAC addresses easily then everyone would be doing this?

i heard it was possible with unix and linux, however when i updated the drivers for my dads laptop (XP Pro) my MAC changed which i was suprised by, not sure if you chnage an Xbox Mac

It's definitely possible to change MAC addresses. Some wireless bridges, IIRC, are able to clone MAC addresses and it's DEFINITELY possibly under Linux. Remember that MACs can be 'sniffed out' so they're not actually secret anyway.

Just need the software to do it, easy to find out how just by searching Google. Locking down MAC addresses is not secure, on unixy systems all I need to do is use the usual ifconfig command to do it, under Windows you change a registry setting, nothing special at all.

Xbox Live uses the serial number of the Xbox, not the MAC address of the NIC. The MAC address doesn't propogate outside of your LAN anyway.

However, neither is WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy - for the record) secure - all you need to do is sniff a certain amount (reasonably large) of traffic, and it can be broken.

Fundamentally, the only secure computer is locked in a very big vault, not connected to anything, and powered down. Even then..... :norty:

What MAC address filtering, not showing the SSID, and WEP will do for you is make it non-trivial for someone to steal your bandwidth. Bod who is using it quite probably doesn't know a MAC address from his elbow, chances are he'd have his own ISP if he did... probably just turned on his PC-World, Centrino enabled laptop, went 'cool, there's a network', and helped himself.

My advice would be: Start with MAC filtering and hiding your SSID, cheap, easy wins. If it continues to be a problem, then worry about more secure options.

Cool well i've learnt my one thing for today :D :thumb:

Another way to do it would be to assign a reserved IP to the intruder and set the firewall to block every port for that IP only, full time.