I am currently connected to the internet via wireless. I don't know where it is from, but my laptop was able to connect to the internet wirelessly. What are the risks of using this wireless connection? Thank you.

I would strongly sugest that if you are not provideing the wireless connection your useing that you either get your own (SECURE) router or stick to wired!

Anyone connected to the wireless network your using can access (without hacking or a brain) ALL shared folders on your laptop.

And if someone using the network has some special software he/she (dont want to be sexist...) can view everything you do access every file on your laptop basically They can control u!

Also even if you have your own (SECURED) wireless connection all the above still applies... Protected or not YOU CAN GET HACKED!

It is unlikely... But still i would stick to wired. It's Faster and safer.

Ps also if the connection isnt yours (or a public one which you are allowed to access) The owner/admin of the connection might be a little annouyed becaus eyou would be draining his/her speed, etc.

That depends on how you configure your router. There are ways to configure it so that only certain MAC addresses and devices can use it...you can limit the number of IPs that are allowed to use it...you can password-secure the router (obviously)...and there may be others, but off the top of my head, they escape me.

My own router is configured so that only my PCs on my MAC addresses can access it. I've seen others attempt it, but no one's done it yet.

If it's your router, make full use of the security provided by it.

Change the default password. It's amazing how many people don't do this and you can get straight into their router with a couple of guesses or a quick google search.

WEP is a method of encrypting the data that is sent over the air. This means that other people will not be able to simply 'sniff' your traffic and see what you're doing online, read cleartest passwords, etc. WEP is crackable, but it does take time and a bit of effort so for most home installations it's not worth worrying about.

MAC Address filtering will only allow certain network devices to access the wireless network. It is possible to clone a MAC Address, but this is by no means a trivial task and besides, you'd need to know of a MAC Address that is allowed access to the network.

Other routers / Wireless network cards might have other security settings too. Some of the newer ones are safer than WEP so you should use those if you can - but bear in mind that both the wireless card and the router have to support them so you might run into compatibility issues.


If the router is not your own, then it entirely depends on whose it is. If it's not using WEP or another form of encryption, it's possible that someone is sniffing your traffic. The owner of the wireless access point may also be malicious, intercepting your traffic, or even turning your images upside-down.

When you're not using Wireless, turn it off.

the most scure thing to do is have your own wirless connection and secure it so that only you can connect to it.
if you don't want to do that, the best thing to do is make sure you have a good firewall installed.
but you should know that even if you have firewall on your computer, other people on the network can sniff unencrypted data that you send/recive

You have written that you are not aware about the how you are getting the connection. I feel may be working from a net zone. As you are not aware about the connection you should install a firewall to protect yourself and at the same time try to find out the source of the connection.

cool i like the thing about flipping pics
i wouldnt have a clue how to implement it but cool anyway.

dan

Originally Posted by ProTibet

I am currently connected to the internet via wireless. I don't know where it is from, but my laptop was able to connect to the internet wirelessly. What are the risks of using this wireless connection? Thank you.

it seem like you don't know where the sources of connection and of course the owner. If im not mistaken somebody had been sued because of using others wireless connection. Moreover, it very unsecured since somebody can hacked you computer easily. So, better stop surfing internet free.