Firewall-someone take downloads?

[brobson]

My son's buddy said (via chat) he could see on my computer that we had no firewall and he had taken my son's downloaded videos (which he isn't supposed to have)
Is this possible? How do I protect my computer?
I don't know how to mess with the firewall.
If I go to system pref/services/ it says personal file sharing off

then Firewall has nothing checked

Internet has nothing checked

Is this boy yanking my son's chain or do I need to do something?

 

[Str8edgepunker]

Well if you don't have any options on for that first panel in the sharing control panel, eg. windows sharing, then technically he shouldn't be able to access anything on there. Did you say you have your firewall turned on or off?

 

[yellow]

For starters...

Was this kid on the same network as your son's computer?

Do you have a router between your computer and the other kid's computer?

Then unless some specifically poked holes in your router's firewall, the kid is likely pulling your chain and got them via sneakernet (e.g., sitting at your son's computer).

 

[brobson]

Well if you don't have any options on for that first panel in the sharing control panel, eg. windows sharing, then technically he shouldn't be able to access anything on there. Did you say you have your firewall turned on or off?

Ahh
It does say Firewall off,,
I turned it on. Do I do anything else?

I don't know if the kid was on the same network, I don't even know what network I am on. Since I only know his chat name I haven't figured out which friend it is but no one lives too nearby.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Please describe your network.

Your computer is plugged with ( an Ethernet cable or Airport ) into ( a router, or a wireless router, or nothing ) and then ( Cable modem or DSL modem or dial up) and then the internet.

The other boy's computer is (in your house or not in your house) connected (directly to your network, or wirelessly to your network, or through the public Internet)

 

[brobson]

thanks

Please describe your network.

Your computer is plugged with ( an Ethernet cable or Airport ) into ( a router, or a wireless router, or nothing ) and then ( Cable modem or DSL modem or dial up) and then the internet.

The other boy's computer is (in your house or not in your house) connected (directly to your network, or wirelessly to your network, or through the public Internet)

I have a wireless network via cable.
B

 

[yellow]

I have a wireless network via cable.
B

And is it configured properly? Or is it jsut out-of-the-box, plugged-in, and go?

 

[GimmeSlack12]

Is this boy yanking my son's chain or do I need to do something?

Sounds like this is the case to me. How old are these kids? Ultimately there is nothing that can be done remotely (from your son's friend) if none of the Sharing options were turned on. And if you are using a wireless router there is an automatic firewall working through it. If it is just a wireless broadband modem then I'm not sure.

Sounds like teenager BS to me.

 

[mkrishnan]

When you say downloaded videos, what do you mean exactly? Are you letting him use Limewire or Kazaa or something like that, and are these videos that are being actively shared back out by the filesharing program?

 

[brobson]

And is it configured properly? Or is it jsut out-of-the-box, plugged-in, and go?

It's out of the box and plugged in for sure. I obviously know very little but it's been fine for us since Jan. Is there something I need to do?


As to teenage BS I think they are on another planet sometimes.

Thanks
B

 

[brobson]

When you say downloaded videos, what do you mean exactly? Are you letting him use Limewire or Kazaa or something like that, and are these videos that are being actively shared back out by the filesharing program?

I know he did download some that he shouldn't have on Azureus. I have put him back on parental controls as of today due to this boy's email. But if it's old history I don't want to punish him again. He said they were in our recycle bin, we don't even call it that on mac.

 

[mkrishnan]

He said they were in our recycle bin, we don't even call it that on mac.

Mmm, I guess it's possible that, if you have no security on your wireless network, automatic login or no password on your Mac, and the Mac firewall turned off, that he could be accessing the trash of your computer. But that does make it sound even more like hooey.

 

[brobson]

Mmm, I guess it's possible that, if you have no security on your wireless network, automatic login or no password on your Mac, and the Mac firewall turned off, that he could be accessing the trash of your computer. But that does make it sound even more like hooey.

I do have a password to get on my mac daily but I never put a password on my
router. Should I? How can I do it?
Plus if it was in the trash, that stuff was emptied 3 months ago. (my son could tell you the day! HA HA)

 

[mkrishnan]

lol it's probably just him (that other boy) being a dork.

But what I would do...

- Make sure the Mac accounts for real people have login passwords and that the system makes you login with a password instead of defaulting to one. It's okayish probably to have a no-password guest account if it's a managed account.

- People go back and forth on turning on the OS X firewall, but I would (and do) use it.

- Set up the wireless router to use WPA (1 or 2) if at all possible and WEP if WPA is not possible. To get more help on that, you need specific information about the brand and model of the wireless router.

If you do those three things, particularly with Macs, you should be very safe.

 

[GimmeSlack12]

Dial 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 into your browser and you'll gain access to your router. The default login/pass is either admin/admin or admin/password. If this doesn't work then let us know there are other default combinations.

Once logged onto the router look for a wireless set of options. You'll find the encryption options in there. What kind of router is it BTW?

 

[CanadaRAM]

Yes: You should change the default administrative password of the router. Read the router's manual for instructions. You should also have WPA password protection on the wireless network.

Realize that no matter what you have for passwords and firewalls, as soon as P2P (torrent, Limewire, whatever) software is enabled, it has blown a hole right through your security and has explicitly opened a part of your hard drive to public access.

Ditto if Remote access software is enabled.