Noob Question

HI all,

I have wireless and use WEP/DHCP. I let my neighbor have access and
have given him the key. I never check my logs until tonight when I was
having all kinds of issues. I was a little startled to see that in my
router log it showed my IP address going to a certain site that I know
my neighbor "likes" Let's leave it at that. I have no clue if my
router was just reporting IPs wrong or if something else is up. Could
DHCP cause this? Should I be monitoring this? How is it possible that
my IP was shown going to this site? I have no spyware on my machine( I
run bitdefender and a bunch of others). I hate to be the guy who
watches his network but I am not certain how I should handle this.

Thanks

If your neighbor is using your router, you share the same WAN IP address


<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
> HI all,
>
> I have wireless and use WEP/DHCP. I let my neighbor have access and
> have given him the key. I never check my logs until tonight when I was
> having all kinds of issues. I was a little startled to see that in my
> router log it showed my IP address going to a certain site that I know
> my neighbor "likes" Let's leave it at that. I have no clue if my
> router was just reporting IPs wrong or if something else is up. Could
> DHCP cause this? Should I be monitoring this? How is it possible that
> my IP was shown going to this site? I have no spyware on my machine( I
> run bitdefender and a bunch of others). I hate to be the guy who
> watches his network but I am not certain how I should handle this.
>
> Thanks
>

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
> HI all,
>
> I have wireless and use WEP/DHCP. I let my neighbor have access and
> have given him the key. I never check my logs until tonight when I was
> having all kinds of issues. I was a little startled to see that in my
> router log it showed my IP address going to a certain site that I know
> my neighbor "likes" Let's leave it at that. I have no clue if my
> router was just reporting IPs wrong or if something else is up. Could
> DHCP cause this? Should I be monitoring this? How is it possible that
> my IP was shown going to this site? I have no spyware on my machine( I
> run bitdefender and a bunch of others). I hate to be the guy who
> watches his network but I am not certain how I should handle this.
>
> Thanks
>
His computer activity can not be easily distinguished from yours, as he is
now part of your LAN.
Therefore, everything he does on the 'net reflects on you. If his machine is
compromised and becomes a spam proxy, then you are the responsible party,
and you may have your internet access cancelled (or worse). If he downloads
illegal material and gets traced, they will come after you, as the 'owner'
of that IP address

I would not take this risk for a neighbor, but the choice is yours

Stuart

Stuart Miller wrote:
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>
>>HI all,
>>
>>I have wireless and use WEP/DHCP. I let my neighbor have access and
>>have given him the key. I never check my logs until tonight when I was
>>having all kinds of issues. I was a little startled to see that in my
>>router log it showed my IP address going to a certain site that I know
>>my neighbor "likes" Let's leave it at that. I have no clue if my
>>router was just reporting IPs wrong or if something else is up. Could
>>DHCP cause this? Should I be monitoring this? How is it possible that
>>my IP was shown going to this site? I have no spyware on my machine( I
>>run bitdefender and a bunch of others). I hate to be the guy who
>>watches his network but I am not certain how I should handle this.
>>
>>Thanks
>>
>
> His computer activity can not be easily distinguished from yours, as he is
> now part of your LAN.
> Therefore, everything he does on the 'net reflects on you. If his machine is
> compromised and becomes a spam proxy, then you are the responsible party,
> and you may have your internet access cancelled (or worse). If he downloads
> illegal material and gets traced, they will come after you, as the 'owner'
> of that IP address
>
> I would not take this risk for a neighbor, but the choice is yours
>
> Stuart
>
>
use the "parental control"/"URL block" on the router if it has that
capability to block the site he "likes". if he wants to bitch about
it...change the keys on him?

Thanks all for your follow up and advice. Next question, is it
possible that my neighbor would have access to my pc through my
wireless?

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
> Thanks all for your follow up and advice. Next question, is it
> possible that my neighbor would have access to my pc through my
> wireless?
>
That depends
First you must enable file sharing on your computer - network settings
Then you must enable specific folders to be shared
Then you must share them with no password

If you do all three, then he has access, but only to the shared folders.
Otherwise, no

Stuart

Thanks Stuart, I am very grateful for the knowledge and am adjusting as
needed.

Are you aware of any good tools I can run on my local machine(s) to
make sure they are fairly secure? Any other good tools to protect my
wireless other than the advice I might find readily on the net?

I am usually surprised to find the best tools for such things are not
too easy to find.

Stuart Miller wrote:
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
> > Thanks all for your follow up and advice. Next question, is it
> > possible that my neighbor would have access to my pc through my
> > wireless?
> >
> That depends
> First you must enable file sharing on your computer - network settings
> Then you must enable specific folders to be shared
> Then you must share them with no password
>
> If you do all three, then he has access, but only to the shared folders.
> Otherwise, no
>
> Stuart

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ps.com...
> Thanks Stuart, I am very grateful for the knowledge and am adjusting as
> needed.
>
> Are you aware of any good tools I can run on my local machine(s) to
> make sure they are fairly secure? Any other good tools to protect my
> wireless other than the advice I might find readily on the net?
>
> I am usually surprised to find the best tools for such things are not
> too easy to find.
>

Good security can be a major problem.
For me, everything that needs to be secured lives on a linux file server,
and I use a hardware firewall/router/hub setup for internet access, and a
separate wireless router which I can unplug when not needed. The XP install,
and several win98 installs here are considered 'disposable'. If these
machines develop problems, or about once a year even if they don't, I
reinstall.
There is never any critical data on them.
I have this machine set for multi-boot options -
- this install of xp
- experimental, test install of xp
- experimental install of win98
- linux

As for security tools, I have not needed to investigate them. I suggest you
drop in on alt.computer.security or comp.security.firewalls and join the
(often heated) discussions there.

Stuart




> Stuart Miller wrote:
>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
>> > Thanks all for your follow up and advice. Next question, is it
>> > possible that my neighbor would have access to my pc through my
>> > wireless?
>> >
>> That depends
>> First you must enable file sharing on your computer - network settings
>> Then you must enable specific folders to be shared
>> Then you must share them with no password
>>
>> If you do all three, then he has access, but only to the shared folders.
>> Otherwise, no
>>
>> Stuart
>