Virgin Super Router Security.

[magpienja]

Hi all....listening to a security topic on the radio today and it got me thinking,

I use Virgin for my internet connection with one of there super hubs feeding my Win 7 PC,

The router is using the default password that it came with...I am now thinking that my nearby neighbours could be logging onto my wi-fi connection...should I be concerned or be changing the password on the router???

Nick.

[mixture]

magpienja,

Two fundamental rules of passwords :

You never use the default one
You never use simple passwords

So yes, change it and make sure you're using WPA2 AES

[magpienja]

WPA2 AES

Mmmmm sorry no idea....but I suspect I should know what it means,

Do I need to know to change the password.

[arn3696]

The default password for each router is different. It's a random collection of letters. It is extremely unlikely anyone else will know it without seeing the label on the side. The account password might be set with a default but that's entirely different and has nothing to do with your wifi.

[magpienja]

Sounds like I have nothing to worry about then....

[Avtrician]

Change the admin and wifi login passwords, and go the security settings as Mixture has already stated and change the security settings.

You dont need to know what WPA2 AES means to change the admin password (usually the default is password or is empty). By changing the admin password, you prevent outsiders changing your settings. Also change the wifi access password, this will prevent neighbours using your system.

[jimjim1]

As mentioned already, yes change the password. Make it pretty long say 30 chars. If it is long I see no problem with using mostly ordinary words but not a well known phrase, with some twiddly bits. Unless of course you are expecting GCHQ in which case you should us a random password generator - or turn off the radio entirely.

The problem with the default password is that I understand that some ISPs have in the past used a complicated looking string derived from the default SSID or MAC address, both of which are accessible externally. The algorithm has subsequently become public.

I used something like this for a while years ago.

itwasAlongandbOvril!{road}297tohellitwasAlongandbOvril!

[magpienja]

Thanks guys....managed to change them all now....and I can now understand why it can be a problem,

Thanks again for the advice chaps.

Nick.