WEP passwords

[Rich P]

If you are worried about someone hacking in you can usually limit the mac addresses that the router/access point will allow to connect. While these can probably be spoofed someone would have to know the addresses of your devices which would be pretty darn hard to obtain.

[DaveS]

If you are worried about someone hacking in you can usually limit the mac addresses that the router/access point will allow to connect. While these can probably be spoofed someone would have to know the addresses of your devices which would be pretty darn hard to obtain.

Yeah, you'd think so... but sadly no.

If someone can crack your wep key, they can easily view the MAC address of devices on your network, those numbers fly around the network a lot... once they have one, they can configure their hardware to use that MAC, and botta-bing, they are in.

[milanuk]

I guess a better analogy would be locking your car doors - everyone knows that there are people that can open your car without the key or the fob in less than 30 seconds. And that's not counting those that would break a window to get in. Most people understand that just locking your car door does not protect valuable things inside from being stolen.

To me, this is kind of like that. Securing your network with WEP only keeps the honest people out.

For my home network... that's about what I'm looking for. Keeping the idly curious and easily tempted types, along with most 'honest' folk - in other words, about 99% of the population out by simply rolling up the windows and locking the doors. Yes, there are coat hangers, slim-jims, lock picks, frequency scanners and all manner of other means of bypassing (short of brute force) - I don't really have anything *that* critical (IMHO) on my home network - or in my car. Even going to WPA and other protocols make things more difficult, but not impossible to break into. If someone wants in that bad, I'm probably not going to be able to stop them.

Although it would be tempting to set up a dedicated 'honey pot' with a weak WEP password and see what it attracts

[dkerfoot]

A story Illustrating the Value of WEP

Two friends were camping when a Grizzly Bear lumbered into the campsite and started looking for food. One of the campers slowly removes his hiking boots and puts on his running shoes. His friend says "Why are you bothering with that? Don't you know how fast a bear can run? You have no chance of outrunning him if he decides to attack!"

The first camper looks at him and says: "I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you!"



Chances are, many of your neighbors have no security on their wireless networks at all. Unless you are for some reason a particularly attractive target (like a business or a bank), what possible reason would someone have for hacking your WEP secured connection when two doors down is completely open?

.

[Rich P]

I thought if you had only allowed specific addresses, the access point would automatically block all others. But you are correct, if they can intercept the signal and break the WEP key they are in.

But back to the original post, even with WPA you still need someway of remembering your access code.

[Kristofor]

what possible reason would someone have for hacking your WEP secured connection when two doors down is completely open?

"Because it was there"

I think most of the people who have done this.... Er, I meant most of the peoplr who could do this, already have a better internet feed than what they can pull from the neighbors.

These days having fun with unauthorized access is illegal, but there are plenty of kids who are still going to do that just because they can. If you're kindly minded it can even be called a learning experience.

This is nothing new by the way... I'm guessing some of you may have run a war-dialer in years past looking for new BBSes or other open/semi-open systems? I'll plead the 5th, but it's possible that I did in the late 80's to early 90's when I was in Jr/Sr High.... I wouldn't have been out to intentionally cause trouble, just poking around to see what there was to see.

Some people consider having to secure their PCs to be similar to having to lock their doors and are upset that they're forced to do so. I can understand that perspective as there are plenty of people who would do harm if given the chance. But, for the more benign, "I want to see what I can access" types I think it's more akin to closing you're drapes. If you don't cut off that access, don't be suprised if people look in...

[milanuk]

"Because it was there"

True... I know some of the people I've bumped into on the 'Net over the years look at either for the challenge (more of a challenge, albeit not a whole lot, in cracking an encrypted wifi net than one that isn't) and the really odd ones view themselves as some sort of Robin Hood figure, providing a 'public service' by demonstrating to you that your supposedly 'secure' network really isn't and inspiring you to take more serious security measures before a 'real' bad guy shows up and uses-n-abuses you. It makes a *little* bit of sense, in a twisted sort of way, but it's also awful presumptuous that they have the right and/or obligation to interfere in my affairs to begin with.

Takes all types, I guess.