Are there dangers to removing the WPA security from my eircom router?

You gotta trust some people surely you are talking dedicated hacker here?
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Not at all. It is very easy for anyone to do, the info is all online.
In a housing estate or urban area it would be very easy for an unauthorised user to be using your connection without your knowledge.
 
sfag said:
3. dearg says they cant do that - i dont have them written in a file on my hard drive and i dont belive using my wifi turns a user into a hacker..
4 and so on. My neighbours simply would do that. You gotta trust some people surely you are talking dedicated hacker here?
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just to clarify #3 - that's not what dearg said - he said that sites using SSL are encrypted ( eg Online Banking) - my point was in relation to webmail/forums/some online shopping sites etc where a simple sniffer would capture the login credentials.

#4 and so on - my point is you never know with people - criminals (including hackers) do not normally advertise themselves or their methods - just because hacking can be seen as a white collar crime doesn't make it any less legal.

NOTE : My references to hacking are relating to the common perception that hacking involves some type of illegal or nefarious intent, as opposed to the historical definition of a hacker.
 
a mixture of a linux distro, aircrack-ng, macchanger and an atheros chip wlan card - add a bit of knowledge. shouldn't take too long.
There are mixture of other tools that will provide the same end result some windows based , some linux based.
 
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3. Intruder captures some of my login details for webmail and the like and posts/emails inappropriate content under my identity.
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3. dearg says they cant do that
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No I didn't. Secure sites that use SSL are very difficult/impossible to intercept and decrypt and get the detail. Traffic to non-secure web sites, pop/imap e-mail is easily analysed to determine passwords. This holds true whether your wireless network is encrypted or not.

The summary of what I'm saying is that encryption of your wireless lan (especially WEP encryption) doesn't protect you from the list of potential risks in nai's list so therefore not having it secured, if it suits your requirements and situation, is a valid consideration.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't take other steps to protect your self and monitor the usage of the network if is open and free for all to use.
 
nai said:
a mixture of a linux distro, aircrack-ng, macchanger and an atheros chip wlan card - add a bit of knowledge. shouldn't take too long.
There are mixture of other tools that will provide the same end result some windows based , some linux based.
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Fairly sophisticated equipment and tools required here!
 
You would be surprised what people are capable of. Those items listed above are easily obtained.
 
Complainer said:
Fairly sophisticated equipment and tools required here!
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You could download all of these (with exception of WLAN card) in approx 10 minutes - google will point the way. WLAN card can be bought online - just a few quid.
 
bond-007 said:
You would be surprised what people are capable of. Those items listed above are easily obtained.
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Maybe - but would a person with these tools be likely to be spending much time breaking MAC addressing on domestic routers? Sounds a bit like the CIA breaking into your house to rob your DVD Player.
 
Absolutely - these tools are freely available and are very much in use by teenagers and others messing around trying to do a bit of devilment which can often lead to much more serious incidents. You don't have to be any type of hacker to use them - just a little IT knowledge is sufficient.

I have an incident I've been involved in where someone sniffed a minor's email login credentials, used these to change passwords on facebook, bebo etc, uploaded some very graphic pornographic images and distributed them to all their friends (also mostly all minors). They then went on to download photos of her and photoshop them into some very disturbing porno images which were then also distributed.

There is a case currently active with the Gardai for this.
 
cheers again.
This has been educational for me. I'll use the wep despite its limited usefullness.
Will also watch out for local pale geeky looking teenagers for they are the ones most likely to be sitting up all night learning their hacking techniques.
 
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