How to secure your own pc from snooping within a network

[timbo59]

We have a home wifi network that all the family members use and I just started wondering yesterday whether our teenage kids could use the system to peek into either my wife's computer or mine. Not that we have porn or whatever loaded up on either PC that we need to be concerned about, but there are obviously things on there, personal correspondence and other stuff, that is after all private, and kids being kids they might want to break down some walls just to prove they can. We don't pry into their stuff, and the hope is that they respect our privacy in the same way, but you never know! Question is, within a home network, how do you lock your own kids out - I'm guessing conventional firewalls don't work because they're already in the system?

Advice on the matter would be much appreciated.

 

[_Kyle_]

Well, unless your kids are computer geniuses, they should not be able to access anything remotely without touching the computer. If you would like more privacy though just get a second "private'' router in which only you two will use.

 

[timbo59]

I don't think it can be that hard. I've heard of plenty of instances of parents snooping on their kids via network connections, so I figured the reverse could apply. A second router seems a bit extreme - I would think there has to be a solution on the software side of things.

 

[AlienMenace]

Do you and your wife have Windows Login password protected computers? When you not using it, just sign out. And make sure the kids don't know your passwords.

 

[_Kyle_]

I don't think it can be that hard. I've heard of plenty of instances of parents snooping on their kids via network connections, so I figured the reverse could apply. A second router seems a bit extreme - I would think there has to be a solution on the software side of things.

Unfortunately my software know-hows are limited. I really focus on hardware. I wish I could help more.

 

[Agent Smith]

If you have asinine Windows file sharing on and all that rot, just go into services under the control panel and disable Netbios. That will disable any and all file sharing and network capbility. But, if you use file sharing and networked printing, then I wouldn't do that. You might want to check out Comodo firewall. But it can be a bit tedious. I wouldn't worry that much about kids getting into your computer. They need a certain set of skills. If you think your kids are very computer savvy and might pose an issue then go ahead and install Comodo.

Some things you should know:

Never use the WPS button for your router to secure the WIFI. It can be hacked in 2-10 hours.

Check out OpenDNS if you want to help limit your kids from accessing porn. It's a free service.

 

[beers]

What router do you have? Some of the newer ones have a dedicated guest ssid that doesn't permit that wireless traffic to the rest of your network but allows it internet access.

 

[Agent Smith]

Couldn't you do that in a vLan or use DD-WRT and segregate the networks with its options? I've actuality seen that feature in DD-WRT when I ran an old WRT54GL. You just ticked an option to not allow access to other computers in the WIFI settings.

Timbo59, you might be interested in a router with the third party firmware DD-WRT. You can buy a compatible router for DD-WRT and flash yourself, or you could buy one on eBay already flashed.

Here's one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Asus-TM-AC1...265744?hash=item4d589e85d0:g:Nf4AAOSww5NZA8pW

Here's a few more:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Netgear-R63...411006&hash=item1c681a00c2:g:MkEAAOSwMNxXUmFa

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-ASUS-RT...672281&hash=item283e5a6ecc:g:BkQAAOSwB-1Y3rnd


But before you go spending money on something you may or may not need, answer this one question: Do your kids know Linux? If the answer is no I wouldn't worry about them getting into your computer.