Can someone still hack into a passworded wireless router?

Question

and would they be able to see what I am doing? I think some lamer with no life is doing this to me, how could I put a stop to this?

Answer 1

Nothing wireless is 100% secure - the wrong people with the right tools, can capture and decode anything they want, eventually that is.

Think of wireless internet the same as you cordless phone, anyone can listen to your calls (you did know that didn't you?) Same with cell phone technology - if they really want, they can still listen in...

Now, with a good WPA security, with a long, mixed case password makes you 99.99% secure. Most folks don't have the know-how to break into that kind of system, but governments and some crooks can figure some things out if they think you are of interest to them....

Answer 2

Any router can be cracked, but the better the encryption, the harder it is. WPA2 is the best one to use if your wireless card and router support it. Make sure you have a good key or password -- nothing that can be easily guessed. Also, change your SSID and have the router not broadcast it. You'll have to setup your computer to connect to this SSID because it won't show up on your list of wireless networks.



If someone really knows what they're doing, then they can track your internet traffic using packet sniffers. They can also potentially gain access to some files on your computer. But they can't actually physically "see" what you're doing.



The best thing to do would be to make sure you have at least a WPA encrypted wireless network with a strong key. And change the SSID (network name).

Answer 3

Yes it is possible with basically any type of encryption including WPA (although this would take them longer to crack than WEP encryption). There are measures to prevent this such as turning off SSID broadcasting and using MAC address filtering to ensure that only known computers can access the router. Even with preventative measures such as these the attacker could easily spoof their MAC address and gain access to your network.



In terms of "seeing" what you are doing, they could do a number of things. First they could simply sniff all data passing through the router by having their wireless card run in promiscuous mode. They could sniff passwords, cookies, and see what sites you are visiting. Second, they could use null sessions to enumerate users on your machine and ultimately gain access to your laptop or desktop. From there they could upload a trojan or backdoor where they could physically control your computer.

Answer 4

WEP encryption - yes easily.

WPA encryption - no.