IS YOUR WI-FI BEING HACKED?
Why anyone can be a hacker
Hackers are all geeky computer whizkids bent on bringing down governments and big corporations, right? Wrong. The average hacker is far less technically proficient or politically motivated than those you see depicted in films and TV shows or read about in newspapers.
You don’t need advanced technical knowledge and tools to hack. Indeed, many hackers are just on the lookout for unsuspecting Wi-fi networks they can hop on to, either to disguise their illegal online activities or just for a free ride. In fact, just about anyone can hack a Wi-fi connection. All you need is a laptop and some dedicated software, most of which is freely available on Google.
Just have a look at Cracktivator ( www.snipca.com/22169), available for Windows and Android devices, completely free of charge. It claims to crack WEP, WPA and WPA2 encryption – the types of security most commonly used to protect Wi-fi networks. According to its developers it’s “incredibly easy to use” and boasts the ability to block other users (namely those who are paying for the broadband connection in the first place) in order to speed up a hacker’s illicit connection.
Cracktivator is far from the only tool of its type. There are other tools known as stumblers and sniffers, such as Kismet Wireless, designed to uncover nearby networks, including those with hidden Wi-fi network names ( SSIDS). There’s even an entire Linux distro called Kali, which provides a suite of more than 300 hacking tools right off the bat – all for free (see screenshot below). Anyone can download Kali and boot it from a USB stick. It’s supposed to provide a toolkit for ‘ethical hacking’ but can be put to use for some decidedly unethical purposes in the wrong hands.
Check your router for leeches
So how do you know if someone is using tools like these to hack your Wi-fi? Your first port of call should be your router, which will provide a list of devices that are currently connected to your network.
Precise instructions for locating this list varies, depending on your router’s make and model, but the principle is more or less the same in most cases. All routers come with a configuration tool – either a desktop program or a web-style interface accessed through a browser by typing a URL and logging in with an admin password. Check with your router’s instructions if you’re not sure how to access this.
Users of BT Home Hub routers may even find they don’t need to log in to see who’s connected – a basic page of information, including a list of devices currently connected to your network, is available just by typing the router’s IP address – 192.168.1.254 by default. On other routers, look for a Client List or Connected Devices option in the configuration tool – these may be listed in the Network or Advanced section.
Check carefully through the devices listed. Look for anything among the computers, tablets, phones, smart TVS, TV streamers, portable speakers and other devices listed that you don’t recognise. Some devices may be listed by name; others may be listed as seemingly random numbers (known as a MAC address) or as ‘unknown’ (see screenshot above).
This shouldn’t make you immediately think ‘hacker’, because some of your own devices may show up as unknown. You should be able to rule these out by a process of elimination. List the devices that you know are connected to your Wi-fi (and switched on) and see if the number tallies. If you switch off a device it will disappear from the list of actively connected computers, tablets and so on, so you’ll be able to work out the identity of unknown devices (you can also use Wireless Network Watcher for a second opinion – see next page). If, after all your checks, there are connected devices listed that you still can’t account for, then it’s possible you’re being hacked right now.
Find out who’s connected to your Wi-fi
You can’t monitor your router’s device list all the time, of course, so it’s easy to miss hackers who worm their way on to your Wi-fi while you’re not looking. To combat this you can use software that keeps an eye on things for you.
Glasswire ( www.snipca.com/22178), for example, is a firewall that includes the ability to monitor any devices that connect to your network. However, while there’s a free version of Glasswire available, the network-monitoring feature is only available in paid-for versions, which start at around £53. Happily, there are free tools that can provide similar benefits.
One such tool is Nirsoft’s Wireless Network Watcher v2.02 – download it for free from www.snipca.com/22177. It’s safe to use and doesn’t need installing – just extract the program from the ZIP file you downloaded and double-click it to run it. It will scan your Wi-fi network and list all connected devices.
Wireless Network Watcher can also help if you’re still struggling to identify those ‘unknown’ devices that are connected to your Wi-fi. It will identify the manufacturer of most devices, thereby providing you with a clue as to what that mystery device is (see screenshot below).
We recommend you leave the program running continuously in the background for a few days to see if it detects any suspicious activity. You don’t need to keep a constant eye on it either – click Options, then Beep On New Device to have the program sound an alert whenever a new device connects. To see a log of what has connected to your Wi-fi network while it’s been
running, click Options, then Show All Previous Devices. Any devices that were connected, but then subsequently disconnected will be marked with a cross in a red circle.
Check for DNS hijackers
Another way your internet connection can be hacked is by DNS hijacking. This is when someone changes the settings on your router without your consent – usually via a malware infection – allowing hackers to redirect you to fake websites, even when you use real URLS, links or bookmarks. Security firm F-secure offers a free online tool that can check your router to see whether its DNS has been hijacked. Go to www.snipca.com/22180 and click the ‘Check your router’ button (see screenshot above). If the tool discovers anything suspicious, you probably have malware on one of your computers. Run a full scan with your antivirus tool to locate and remove it.