When a Router Is Unsecured: A Few Questions

Slacker7

Slacker7

Member
A few months ago a friend of mine set up his new system along with a new router. In a recent discussion with him I came to find out that he never gave it a security password. In other words, anyone within range can have access to the internet through said router.

I told him flat out that he was leaving himself open to serious issues. Now he tells me that he is getting pop-ups and infections from sights he never visited. And he also has suspicions that at least one of his neighbors is piggy-backing on his system. (Duh! Ya think?!)

Please pardon my ignorance but he had a few questions for me that I can't answer because though I build my own systems and set up all the components (including router encryption)this is one area that I only have basic knowledge. Here are his questions:

1. Is there anyway he can discover who has been accessing his internet or are they anonymous?

2. If they are not anonymous is it possible to find out their ISP address and/or provider or due to the fact they are using his internet only his internet ISP shows up?

Again, please pardon these noob questions but i figured I'd come here and at least get some direction.

Can his ISP provider help out? And, yes, he has since encrypted it. He was leaving it on 24/7.

Thanks.
 
1: He can look through the DHCP log and see if any other computers are connected wirelessly to his router. The local network IP address they were assigned by the router will show up, as well as the name of the PC connecting to the router.

2: Their IP address would be assigned via the DHCP of the router. Do they'd be using his internet connection. It would only trace back to you. Set up a password and change the SSID of the router and they won't be able to connect anymore.

No his ISP can't help track down who is accessing it.

Also, the pop-ups can be from normal surfing. He may have clicked on something or downloaded and installed a program that infected him with adware. If he downloads and runs MalwareBytes Anti-Malware and runs a full scan, deleting all detected items, he should be fine. Go have him follow this thread if he wants more help with it: http://www.computerforum.com/224967-please-read-before-requesting-malware-removal-help.html
 
Thanks 99 for the reply. Very helpful. For clarification on point 1, his router will automatically (?) assign a local network IP address to the offending system but if said system normally is on another ISP network with its own assigned IP address then, other than the PC name, it still remains anonymous but because his router has assigned him an address he'll still know that an offending party has logged on, right?

Sorry for text wall. Hope its clear enough.
 
Slacker7 said:
Thanks 99 for the reply. Very helpful. For clarification on point 1, his router will automatically (?) assign a local network IP address to the offending system but if said system normally is on another ISP network with its own assigned IP address then, other than the PC name, it still remains anonymous but because his router has assigned him an address he'll still know that an offending party has logged on, right?

Sorry for text wall. Hope its clear enough.
Click to expand...

Your question for clarification makes no sense at all, but I'll try to answer what you're asking.

Normally being on another ISP doesn't make any difference. They're only connected to your friends network, not their own at the same time. Besides, if they had their own internet, they wouldn't bother to steal your friends internet. But in any case as I said in my first response, if your friend sees more than just his computer in the DHCP routing table, then you know other devices are connected to your network.
 
Lol sorry for the confusion. So bottom line there is no way to trace who is in essence stealing by using his system.

Thanks.
 
You can also be more secure by disabling broadcasting of the SSID(network name), then no one but you will be able to know that its there.
 
Slacker7 said:
Lol sorry for the confusion. So bottom line there is no way to trace who is in essence stealing by using his system.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Not unless the name of the PC is obvious and he knows who his neighbors are.

johnb35 said:
You can also be more secure by disabling broadcasting of the SSID(network name), then no one but you will be able to know that its there.
Click to expand...

It still shows up on Windows 7 and 8 as "Other Network".
 
voyagerfan99 said:
Not unless the name of the PC is obvious and he knows who his neighbors are.
Click to expand...

Hehehe that's true.
Even though by just looking at the PC name he can always investigate all the computers in that area until he finds the one with that name who is stealing his connection and then kick his/her ass lol! :D:D:D
Of course nobody will go through all that hassle unless if the police is investigating a murder or something similar hehehe! :D

Slacker7...does your friend use 128 bit encryption?
If not he should at least use 128 even though it's not REALLY neccessary.
I use 256 bit,but that's just me lol. :D
 
When you change your SSID name, do not use your name or where you live. Use an alias.
Mine is "GoFindYourOwnNetwork" LOL
:-)
 
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