Wireless router vulnerability

[Davidson Deac II]

Wireless routers vulnerable to brute force hacking

Well, technically they have always been vulnerable but this makes it easier, and perhaps more worthwhile.

If you set WPA/WPA2 security protocol on your home or small business wireless router, and you think your Wi-Fi is secure, there two recently released brute force tools that attackers may use to bypass your encryption and burst your security bubble. The irony is that the vulnerability which can be exploited was intended to be a security strength, a usability issue to help the technically clueless setup encryption on their wireless networks. Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) is enabled by default on most major brands of wireless routers including Belkin, Buffalo, D-Link, Cisco's Linksys and Netgear, leaving millions of wireless routers around the world vulnerable to brute force attacks which can crack the Wi-Fi router's security in two to ten hours.

Fwiw, the only way your wireless router is ever completely secure is if you shut it off and lock it in a safe. :)

[R0CKnR0LLA]

[Guest]

I always wonder who would spend 2-10 hours hacking into my router. I mean, me? Really?

[cookinwithgas]

If you have a neighbor with a bored kid it's likely to happen. Where I live there's no houses near us so it would indeed take someone in a van hanging out or at least leaving gear unattended on my lawn.

Best place to get cool stuff is on hotel wireless networks; people have open shares on their computers all the time with music etc on them so that they can get the files from their PC to other machines when they want to. My Pink Floyd and Genesis collections are primarily obtained by this method.

[Jase]

In 2-10 hours, I might as well break into somebody's house and put a ball point pen in the 'reset' button.

[Inimicus]

Security is an illusion anyway.

The best security is to not be the lowest hanging fruit.

Hell I keep a dummy wifi set up connected to a computer that I retired 5 or 6 years ago. Its got throttled internet access and a bunch of random files on it. The only thing on it that's new and interesting is I keep every quarantined file that our corporate antivirus catches on it.

Im never amazed when my neighbor tells me about how f**ked up his sons laptop is.

[Bronn]

[Bronn]

[Bronn]

that one must run near to the Hershey Highway...

[Davidson Deac II]

I always wonder who would spend 2-10 hours hacking into my router. I mean, me? Really?

Fwiw, they don't usually do it that way. They set a computer to just start throwing numbers at it, then they go away, have lunch, bang their girlfriend etc. Since there is no automatic lockout, the router will keep allowing the attempts until it hits on the right combination.

[PanthaSan]

Fwiw, they don't usually do it that way. They set a computer to just start throwing numbers at it, then they go away, have lunch, bang their girlfriend etc. Since there is no automatic lockout, the router will keep allowing the attempts until it hits on the right combination.

I call BS. Anybody that geeky doesn't have a girlfriend.....:D

[Davidson Deac II]

I call BS. Anybody that geeky doesn't have a girlfriend.....:D

Good point, although I think it depends on what they are hacking. If they are hacking credit card numbers and spending big bucks, then they probably have lots of girlfriends of the escort variety. :)

[mmmbeans]

I call BS. Anybody that geeky doesn't have a girlfriend.....:D

that's right, some of us are married...

/used to brute force my parent's neighbors because my parents didn't have wireless. just needed mah huddle fix...

[Kevin Greene]

This simply verifies a computer should only be used for pr0n and to talk football.