Your home networkand everything connected to itis like a vault.
In short: Youll be able to recognize the signs that something on your connection is compromised.
If not, head over to ourKnow Your web link night schoolto brush up first.
Start with a sheet of paper and jot down all of your connected devices.
If it helps, draw a room-by-room map of your home.
Then write down every gadget and where it lives.
You may be surprised by exactly how many devices you have connected to the internet at the same time.
Take a physical inventory first, then move on to the digital one.
get in to your router and check its list of connected devices.
Thatll give you a basic list of names, IP addresses, and MAC addresses.
Remember, your routers rig list may or may not show you everything.
It should, but some routers show you only the devices that use the router for its IP address.
Either way, keep that list to the sideits good, but we want more information.
Download and install Nmap
Next, were going to turn toour old friendNmap.
Scan the IP range youre using for your home internet.
Then look at the information Nmap finds about the gadget.
If it looks strange, probe it specifically for more information.
Nmap is an extremely powerful tool, but its not the easiest to use.
), or something else feels off, its time to do a little sniffing.
Packet sniffing, that is.
Install Wireshark
To do this, well needWireshark.
To do this, youll need to run Wireshark over wifi in promiscuous mode.
Download and install Wireshark
Select your wifi adapter.
Now you’re able to start capturing packets.
When you start the capture, youre going to get a lot of information.
Luckily, Wireshark anticipates this and makes it easy to filter.
Go ahead and capture a few minutes worth of traffic.
For more, check out Wiresharksdetailed filtering instructions.
You may not know what youre looking at (yet)but thats where a little sleuthing comes in.
Either way, youll have the data required to figure it out on your own.
Use web link monitoring software
There are a couple of ways to address this.
One option is to use a program likeGlasswire, which we mentioned earlier.
This software will alert you when someones connected to your web connection.
Check your routers log
Your next option is to use your routers logging capabilities.
Buried deep in your routers troubleshooting or security options is usually a tab dedicated to logging.
Its not unheard of, and many internet administrators do it when theyre really analyzing strange internet behavior.
Its a great way to pin down bad actors or chatty devices.
Still, it will definitely tell you everything you gotta know.
Now all you have to do is deal with them, and surprisingly, thats the easy part.
Wifi leeches will get the boot as soon as youlock down your router.
Before you do anything else, change your routers password, and turn off WPS if its turned on.
verify that you use a good, strong password thats difficult to brute force.
Next, check for firmware updates.
Then, the only devices that should be able to reconnect are ones you give the new password to.
Itll help with wired security, too.
For bad actors on your wired computers, you have some hunting to do.
If its actually a physical gadget, it should have a direct connection to your router.
Start tracing cables and talking to your roommates or family to see whats up.
The owner of that set-top box or quietly plugged-in computer will come running pretty quickly when it stops working.
The bigger worry here, though, is compromised computers.
Blow them away, reinstall, and restore from your backups.
(You do have backups of your data, dont you?)
Weve only really scratched the surface here when it comes to online grid monitoring and security.
Still, were not trying to drum up paranoia.
Just remember to use your powers for good.
This story was originally published in October 2014 and was updated in October 2019 with current information and resources.
Updated 3/3/22 with new details.
