Unknown Devices In Network And Sharing Centre Windows

Out of curiosity, for some reason i decided to search for other devices in the network and sharing centre on my laptop, network discovery wasn't enabled, so i then enabled it in order to see the devices.

To my surprise, were 2 mobile phones i have never heard of. One was a 'Homtom HT17' and the other had the name 'Angler'.
Nobody, apart from myself has the router password, and after i noticed this i decided to log into the main router itself to see if the devices were there, but they wernt!

How is this possible? Were they connected through my laptop network somehow but not the router?? Im baffled! I managed to click properties and got a mac address for the homtom phone, but it didnt show anything for the other device. Can someone explain how these devices appear on network sharing centre but not in my router? And how theyre even there!

Thanks guys

 

Have i been hacked? Is it malware?
Well it shouldnt be as i have paid £20.00 for malwarebytes premium version and it says my laptop is clean. Just dont recognise these devices that are apparently on the network

 

It's all completely normal and as it should be. Your laptop's wireless adapter is picking up the SSID of the phones of passers by or neighbours in exactly the same way it is picking up the SSID of your router. That neither is showing as connected in your router simply confirms that neither is being allowed access to your network.

 

So why wont it show up my iphone in the same way? My iphone is probably one of the closest devices to the router.

 

The router is irrelevant. Your laptop's wireless adapter is picking up the other devices' signals directly.

 

What is the range of the wireless adapter? We talking 10 meters? 50 meters?

Surely it should pick up my iphone, or is it just picking up devices that are 'sharing' ?

 

It doesn't generally pick up a 'device', it picks up a NETWORK.
When you turn on WiFi on a device that is close enough to YOUR network, it is available to that device if the device has the PW.
It's very straightforward and you don't have any reason to worry.

 

I suspect that it's ignoring the iPhone because the iPhone's MAC address is already logged in the router as a connected device. Getting to the edge of my knowledge patch now though.

@max - I get these unknown mobiles showing up sometimes too, just ignore them.

 

This application should detect and warn you when a new connection is made to your WiFi network: http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/softperfect_wifi_guard.html

 

So lefts say someone did gain access to my wifi router. Whats the worse that could happen? And what are they capable of doing?? Gaining remote access?

 

If they had the correct password, they could surf the net, download anything. They can't access your system remotely unless they really are a great hacker. It is worth changing the router password at least once a year.

 

If they did gain access, they would have roughly the same rights as any normal user on the network, which may or may not include things like file/printer -sharing, they would almost certainly have access to the Internet and have easier access to try to crack the Admin user/password for the router and any other locked down device connected.

LOL, it's quite easy to gain remote access to a vast number of internet-connected devices, very much easier if you happen to be able to locally access the same network first.

On the odd occasion when I do bump into an easily 'hacked' remote server/router, I'm very likely to tighten up the security for them if I have a few spare minutes... even if it's located in a very hot country bordering on the Persian Gulf.

 

Ok, and what are capabilites of malware??

 

I don't have time to list them.

 

So how do i make it not easy for someone to gain remote access to my laptop, not doing anything i shouldnt be but seeing those unrecognised devices got me worried! But while we're on the conversation...

 

Malware= keylogger info, and remote access?

 

Ensure your firewall and HIPS-type software are updated and secure, install something like WiFi guard, don't blindly click links or open/click links in emails, run a good AM/rootkit detector regularly. Use the Public network firewall setting when mobile, use a VPN with a secure, safe reputation for any secure logins. Consider using a live Linux CD/DVD for any secure logins/banking etc. when on an untrusted network.

Don't fret over devices you can 'see', if they're not connected, or trying to connect, to your network, they're 'of interest' but little more = no real danger.

Keep the malware out (see above) and there's no worry, any infection detected that might be a phishing attempt, etc, get on a clean machine and change all passwords/phrases to something unique per site, check esp. your email server for 'foreign' login attempts after you change passwords there.

Remote access = lock down your home/work router, block/password the remote access 'hole', many are enabled by default with a default user/pass combo.

 

When surfing xvideos for example, i noticed as soon as i click play to stream a video it opens a pop up! Its as though there's a fake screen infront of the real play streaming screen if you know what i mean. Its probably riddled with malware right, but malwarebytes should prevent me from it right?

 

xvideos = pr0n, yes?

MBAM Premium will block connections to known malware sites, it can't prevent the basic popup/popunders from happening.

In the browser you also need something like uBlockO with perhaps some added lists (Don't forget to update those lists frequently - daily is good, uBlockO checks for and should update itself each browser start but the 3rd party lists won't) and, if you can put up with the frequent tweaking, something like NoScript/uMatrix

Or consider the Live Linux CD/DVD method (most have a method of blocking disk access so nothing is saved/can access your data) for your riskier sites.

 

Instead of using my basic internet explorer, can you reconmend a good browser that automaticly shields me from all that nuisance?

 

No, there is no web browser that will shut every door to malware.
It's quite simple: have a good effective real time AV program. Have a decent Firewall, the rest is down to surfing behaviour.

 

LOL, browsers are general purpose, some are extended to add PDF/media players/social networking tools as well, none that I know of are strictly high security, that would break them for 'normal/safe' usage.

Some AV makers do offer 'safe' browsers (modified from Firefox/Chrome usually), usually as optional parts of their main products but they can also break /interfere with normal browsing safety nets and usually impinge on your privacy, by running everything through their own servers (https checks can result in the AV company server cert., instead of the cert. for the server at the endpoint, this behavior could be exploited by an MitM attack).

Whatever browser you choose, definitely break free of IE (and probably Edge), both are tied in too deeply to the OS and the vulnerable graphics/font subsystems. If you must use Flash, set it for Ask to play, always keep it, and the browser, fully updated (the SecurityGarden blog is useful for this). Don't use/install Java, open pdfs in a pdf reader, not the browser, etc.

As usual, you might be safer using non-mainstream (they're subject to most targeted exploits) software - but keep it updated!

 

Something like tor browser?

 

And why dont install java? I was under the impression you need it to stream videos???

 

Tor is fine for plain, secure(ish) browsing, NoScript is enabled by default, Flash disabled or not activated but it isn't any kind of 'normal' browser, unsuitable for streaming, etc., speeds will be very slow and there will be other nuisances.

Nope, Java isn't used by most sites for anything, esp. over the last 5-10 years. Occas. you might need it for some banking and other specific sites, mostly it's just another attack vector for the malware pushers, a malformed Java trigger in a web page can crack your Windows in seconds in IE, maybe also other browsers. It should be set for Ask to play - or enabled only on a browser that's specifically used solely for the purpose of accessing safe Java-enabled sites.

 

I haven't had Java Runtime installed for years. It is not needed media. Of course it is not the same as Java script.

 

Or JavaScript.

 

Exactly, Java Runtime is NOT javascript.

 

JavaScript

 

?

 

?

 

bradztheman, I'm curious. Where do you see those 2 devices mentioned in your opening post?

 

In windows, control panel, network and sharing centre when i search for devices

 

I'm missing something...
How do you search for devices in Network and Sharing Center?

 

Strange because one of the devices i see is a 'homtom ht17' mobile phone. Homtom is pretty much unheard of here in the uk

 

Network discovery.

-control panel
-network and sharing centre
-search for devices

Folder and sharing options must be open in order to see other devices.

 

Sorry, I don't have search for devices in Windows 7.

 

Seriously? Im sure its been around for years can anyone else explain how to find it

 

Kindly show me a screenshot of how to search for devices in Network and Sharing Center.

 

Try using the links, they'll show any active routers etc., nearby (mine can't, too many things would need re-enabling first).

Start with "Connect to a network"?

 

Thanks satrow. I knew I'm not that PC illiterate...
It's so much easier to just click the network icon in the Notification Area.

bradztheman, the other reason I'm asking about your 'search' is this: Is what you see similar to this?

 

No that's completely different, that just shows the available wifi routers to connect to.

 

I don't have that method either Eldon, Windows doesn't know there's a connection to the 'net

 

bradztheman, which Windows are you using?

 

Sorry to butt in on this, but if you had network discovery turned off, and then turned it on and saw that 'Homtom HT17' and 'Angler' were in the list. It just means that those devices, whether laptops, computers, etc were being detected by your laptop via your wifi.

Network discovery is a network setting that affects whether your computer can find other computers and devices on the network and whether other computers on the network can find your computer.

It's safe to say that if it's on the network, it has an IP address, whether you are able to find it or not. If it was on the network, at one point in time it had an IP address.

Some devices show up as some weird generic thing on your Windows Device list, it could be completely nothing, and is some device you hooked up some time ago. Just to be safe I would change your wifi password and make sure you are set on WPA2.

Make sure WPS mode is disabled. You can crack the WPS pin code and it is impossible to change it and this code will give the user the WPA2 key. It still takes like 10 hours to initially crack the WPS pin so it is not something that someone would just randomly do, it take quite a effort to break in.

Still it is always good policy to disable this feature. If we could get rid of all the stupid people maybe the router manufactures would stop shipping routers with this enabled out of the box.

 

In order for them to be able to hack the router, would they need to be in range? Or is this something they can do from all over the world once i am connected to my wifi on my device?

Good job you told me, wpa was enabled.

These are not previous devices that have been connected to my network, i have only had the router a few months and only a handful of devices have been connected, and i certainly dont recognise a homtom mobile phone, theyre unheard of in the uk

 

Just got home from work. Did another search and to my surprise another unknown device

 

What options do you have when right-clicking that device?

 

I can see its mac address but wont give me the ip address

 

The sure way to keep the uninvited out of your network is to set up a MAC address filter in your router. Don't just rely on a wireless password. I have had similar situations on a previous computer but never in Win 10. All of them were temporary and none ever gained access to my network, i.e. got allocated an IP by the router.