Wireless Monitor ?

I am using a wireless router on a small home system. My question ... Is there any type of software out there that can be used to alert me when someone
( outside ) is trying to ( or succeeding in ) gain access to the Internet through my system. ( I have done just that with my laptop and a wifi card, and frankly its scary that so many users have an open network... ) I know about securing my router but wonder if there is some type of "monitor" that would alert me to an attempt to connect from the outside...

 

There are ways of setting up network intrusion detection systems, but I must warn that they are highly technical applications.

Two good freeware applications that might help you include:

Snort, which is an open-source, highly customizable network intrusion detection system.

Also, a packet sniffer like Ethereal will tell you exactly what kind of traffic is going on your network.

It may just be simpler for you to configure MAC address filtering on the router. This will allow you to block any but the explicitly defined network cards (as MAC addresses are unique to the network card) to connect to your router, and use the network resources.

Post back if you need any further help.

 

so you havent put a network key on your router? you might as well set one up, its the sane thing to do

 

Entry Level Wireless devices were not engineered for such capacity.

You can buy professional Wireless Hardware( wau more expensive) or use the security measures that are build into the devices that you have.
Wireless Security - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html
WEP, WPA, and the Future - http://www.ezlan.net/wpa_wep.html

 

AS has been said here, if you use WPA-PSK or WPA or even just WEP security and then use MAC address filtering you will be fine. You should also turn the SSID broadcast off too once you are set up. Only a serious hacker with good tools would bother trying to access your network.

As far as seeing if someone was trying to get access, well who cares really if someone is trying? Just as long as they don't get in.

 

Thanks All for the assist...