Posted on 06/26/2012 10:19:42 AM PDT by Altariel
IPs and MAC addresses can be spoofed with little effort. Something as simple as changing the Reply-To address in MSOutlook or Thunderbird can mislead someone into thinking you’re someone you’re not.
There’s no surefire way to be safe in the digital age except to reduce your digital footprint as much as possible. In the age of social media, it’s really as simple as searching the web for someone with an opposing viewpoint and targeting them. Easy solution? Stay off of social media.
I agree with your assessment, Gads, and there need to be more legal avenues to prosecute police and SWAT for errant raids.
Ah, that makes more sense now, I read your post wrong.
I also turn off SID broadcasting in addition to the encryption as well as MAC filtering.
So many manufacturers have done this “one touch setup” crap that completely removes the human element from security and creates simple-to-guess garbage passwords with poor wireless security.
I’ve demonstrated to numerous neighbors how easy it was to get into their networks, and they’ve all asked me to help secure them. I never charge when they ask. Heck, even my wireless network got broken into a few years ago after I neglected to turn off port forwarding for a test I was conducting. There ARE ethical hackers out there, but they’re a lot fewer than those who wish to exploit you.
This should be normally turned off by default I believe, but that is definitely one of those that can be easily missed.
Brilliant!
I run numerous services from my domain, so I have port forwarding on for a lot of ports. If you have something answering on the other end, it’s not so bad, but if you just have ports wide open with nothing there, it’s an avenue into your network.
Unfortunately mine was a SQL port which was used to attempt a back door brute force attack on a voice server, but I use 160 - 220 bit randomly-generated passwords saved to a key database on an encrypted thumb drive, so the chances of them actually doing any damage was pretty small; and I caught the attempt through DDoS logging on my router.
You got that some’bitch locked up nice and tight, I run a web server on an obscure port for testing purposes, but pretty much everything else is plugged up like public toilet.
*Evansville ping*
For your edification.
The comments at the article mostly support the stormtroopers.
The zombies outnumber us.
Been involved in IT security and networking for over 10 years. The threats evolve but even the oldest exploits are still around and lurking.
I’m actually disappointed in retail-level manufacturers like Linksys (Cisco), dLink, and NetGear for releasing products that are so faulty. Sure it’s on the consumer to lock down their networks, but when they make it as easy as pressing a button to make a connection, you have to expect that those with the know-how are going to exploit it.
Easy does not mean secure.
Update Hell! And lose this cornucopia of opportunities to practice their methods and maybe shoot some dogs or even citizens and get paid vacations as rewards for their “mistakes?”
There are many instances of hired techs installing back door spyware.
Make sure the person helping is certified and undergoes regular background checks. Also, even if you turn off your wireless feature and use wired connections, the router / firewall still needs to be secured properly. A web crawler could still seek to penetrate the firewall (like Stuxnet).
Can you say “pigs” ? “Wannabe nazi ninja storm troopers” ? “Scum that should be fired and prosecuted” ?
I knew you could. Police officers (no relation to the above) should be disgusted by such tactics.
Make threats against a (non-VIP) private citizen, and the police will yawn. Make threats against the police, and the SWAT team will "make an example" of you.
Yes. Heaven forbid some goon's family might be at risk. I can't really understand why some might not like the police.
Perhaps it's because the cops don't really care who's house they break into or who's grandmother is rousted/shot/killed?/i
Turning off SSID broadcast doesn’t do much except keep the really stupid criminals out. There are plenty of free tools which will still find your network.
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