Can I Find A Hacker From Computer's Mac Address

So, this was a post in which we told you how one can find the Mac address on various systems running Windows, MacOS or even Linux. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below. Can he break into my WI-FI Network by spoofing my MAC address, so the MAC filter in my router would let him through, because my neighbour would use spoofed MAC address of my tablet. How to avoid being hacked and how can I figure out that somebody hacked into my tablet or into my network. Jun 07, 2019 To find the MAC Address on a Windows 7 or 10 Computer: 1. Open the Windows Command Prompt. Click the Start menu.Type Command Prompt in the search box and press Enter. Click on the Command Prompt, displayed in the search results. NOTE: You may also open Command Prompt by pressing Windows key + R, then typing cmd and pressing Enter. This address just to the hardware information of a computer. Hardware like Wireless adapter and Ethernet adapter etc. Computer users need to know MAC address to share their connection. You can easily find a computer MAC address in Windows 7. If you want to get MAC Address any devices then follow the below instructions. A hacker can easily find out the authorized MAC address, change their network card’s MAC address to the authorized ones and poison the ARP cache to prevent the owner’s machine from connecting to it. Here’s an example of Belkin Play Max F7D4401 v1 router. The disclosure can be linked to your real identity since it might be possible to track you using data collected from WiFi networks, or it can be used to falsify a device's MAC address to gain access to some service (mostly some networks) on which your MAC address is white-listed.

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Every day we see news about computers being hacked and how the cybercriminals make money off people clueless about the protection of their assets.

For someone not very technical, it may sound as if hackers are so powerful, and the only way to hide is to shut down all devices and go off the grid completely.

However, the truth is that there are several simple things one can do to make sure that we are reasonably safe when browsing the internet without affecting our ability to access the information we need.

Whether or not someone can hack into the computer or phone through WiFi depends on a person’s proximity to the WiFi router. If a cybercriminal in the range of access to the WiFi router, they can connect to the local network and perform various attacks, such as Man In The Middle attack.

If the hacker is outside of the WiFi range, then the way they attack will be different.

Let’s consider various scenarios of how the computer can be hacked and ways to protect your devices.

Hacking Computer Through Local WiFi

As you probably guessed, it is much easier to hack the computer, which is in close proximity to the hacker’s device.

For instance, your neighbor can connect to your WiFi and use your internet for free. Or you may connect to the free WiFi in the cafe or hotel, but someone already hacked the network, and now everyone, including you, is a potential target.

Or maybe you are using the office WiFi, and it was also hacked.

And it doesn’t have to be a computer, such as a Mac or PC. Your smartphone, iPhone, or Android, which uses the WiFi can be hacked as well.

Let’s see what hackers can do if they are physically connected to the WiFi you are using.

Man in the middle attack

If you have the internet at home from a cable, DSL, or fiber-optic provider, you have a router. Your computer does not directly connect to the internet; it sends and receives data by directing it through the router.

In layman terms, the process is the following:

Your computer or phone finds a WiFi router.
After submitting the correct password, the router sends back its MAC address. MAC address is an identifier of computer components, and in theory, it should be unique across billions of devices on the planet. The network card on your computer also has a unique MAC address.
After you get the MAC address of the router, all internet activity will be going through the router. In the pic below, there is a MAC address next to each device on the local network, and the router’s address is 11:22:33:44:55:66.

When a hacker connects to the local WiFi router, it also finds the MAC address of the router. The hacker changes his computer’s MAC address to be the same as routers one (11:22:33:44:55:66 in the pic below).

Now, all devices on the local network connect to the hacker’s machine, and then the data flows to and from the router. So the hacker becomes a man in the middle (MITM).

Once this happened, the hacker can read all outgoing requests and incoming data using various tools that collect such data.

This means every time you enter a username and password on some web site or enter your credit card number, and it gets saved on the hacker’s machine. Also, every URL you are visiting also gets saved.

There are some limitations, obviously. For instance, if the website uses the HTTPS protocol (S at the end stands for Secure), all traffic is encrypted between your computer and cybercriminals will not be able to crack it (in most cases).

However, if the web site uses HTTP, all data, including the password, is in cleartext.

So, if you want to avoid your data being stolen, always check that web site is using a secure protocol (HTTPS). In the browsers, the secure protocol is usually displayed with a padlock icon next to the URL.

Never enter passwords or financial information on web sites with HTTP!

How the router can be hacked

When it comes to your home WiFi, there are three ways for someone outside to connect to the router:

The router is not password protected
You tell the password. For instance, you told the guest the password, or she looked it up on the router (if you didn’t change the default one)
If the router is using an old authentication protocol

I am going to skip the first two and instead of focus on the last one. The authentication protocol used in with WiFi router is very important.

If your router is old, it is possible that it’s still using WEP protocol, then you should know that anyone who knows a little bit about hacking can hack the router literally in less than a minute.

So, if you have it enabled on your router, then go ahead and disable as I did.

What you should have is WPA2 with AES encryption. In the pic below, the authentication strength (protection from hacking) increases from top to bottom (WPA is less secure, and WPA2-PSK with AES is the most secure).

Some hackers employ a dictionary attack to crack WPA protocol, but it takes supercomputers to hack it. So as long as you are not a celebrity or a billionaire, nobody will spend so many resources to break into your network.

Usually, you can connect to the home router settings by going to the local IP address, such as http://192.168.0.1/.

How to tell if someone hacked your router

One of the sure routers hacked signs is the existence of an unknown device connected to the local WiFi network.

As I explained above, in order to perform a man in the middle (MITM) attack, the hacker must connect to the WiFI network first. And if he’s connected, you can see him too.

One way to find out the connected devices is through the router settings. Some routers allow us to see all connected devices and kick them out if needed.

Another way is to use a network scanner app. For instance, I found a cool app called Fing. The app is available for almost all platforms: iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows.

It is free (with ads) and doesn’t even require creating an account in order to use it.

One cool feature they have is scanning for open ports.

For instance, when I scanned my MacBook Pro, I found that remote desktop and screen sharing features were enabled, and anyone could connect to my Mac remotely.

How to protect from a MITM attack

While it is possible to scan and find unknown devices on the home network, this approach will not work with public WiFi networks, such as the one in Starbucks or the hotel.

You would never know if the public network was compromised. In this case, the only way to protect your privacy is to use a VPN (a virtual private network).

When connected to VPN, your computer or phone creates a secure encrypted channel with the VPN server. After the connection is established, all requests go to the VPN server. The server makes all requests on your behalf and returns the results back to you.

From outside, it looks like the computer is sending some garbage to and back to the same computer. Even if the hacker collecting the information, he won’t be able to tell whether you’re connecting to Google.com or MacMyths.com.

When choosing a VPN software, follow these best practices:

Do not use a free VPN. They have significant limitations, and you know that good things are never free.
Test for speed. Some VPS are significantly faster than others.
Check the provider’s reputation. Since all requests now go through the VPN, technically, the VPN server becomes a man in the middle. So choose only reputable providers.

Personally, I am using NordVPN: it’s the fastest on the market and very inexpensive. It is available for multiple platforms: macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android.

If you use my NordVPN affiliate link you get a pretty steep discount for three-year plan for up to 6 devices.

Hacking Computer Remotely

We discussed ways to hack the computers and phones through local WiFi, but I know the question that most people ask is whether hackers can connect to the home network when they are on the other end of the world (or more than a hundred yards or meters away).

Fortunately, the answer is no, someone cannot get into your home network, even if they know the password if they are outside of the range (more than 300 feet).

Also, in most cases, hackers cannot get into your computer is off (link).

However, there are other ways to get into your system remotely. Do you remember a story of Bezos’s personal data being leaked?

In his case, he received a message on WhatsApp with malware attachment. When the malware was installed on his phone, it started sending the personal data to the server abroad.

Similarly, we are all at the risk of having malware installed on our computers and smartphones. Some malware open access to the device, so the hackers can access it remotely.

Or, the malware could be a keylogger, and in this case, even having HTTPS or a VPN will not help. A keylogger will record the keys pressed on the keyboard, and if it happens to be a credit card number, then the hacker will have it.

So, how to protect the devices from malware? You need to install an antivirus program.

There is a common myth that Macs cannot have viruses, but this is not true. I was able to inject my Mac with more than 100 malware samples when testing various antimalware solution.

You can check the results of my test and recommended antiviruses in my post: Best Malware Detection App for Mac.

Every time my friends and family ask me for a recommended antivirus, I go with Norton 360. It comes with the biggest bang for the buck and provides antimalware and other security features on all platforms. And it also has its own VPN!

Conclusion

We reviewed multiple ways how someone can hack into your phone or computer through WiFi. I also listed ways to prevent this from happening, which I wanted to reiterate.

If you worry about online security, consider investing in the following tools:

VPN software
Antivirus program

Be very cautious when connecting to public WiFi. I’d say if you don’t have VPN installed on a laptop or smartphone don’t use public WiFi, or at least avoid making purchases with a credit card or entering passwords.

If you are interested in the topic of security, there is a great course available on Udemy about ethical hacking. The instructor teaches how to hack computers ethically and most importantly what can you do to prevent from being targeted:

Learn Network Hacking From Scratch (WiFi & Wired)

Also, check my other post:

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MAC spoofing is a technique for changing a factory-assigned Media Access Control (MAC) address of a network interface on a networked device. The MAC address that is hard-coded on a network interface controller (NIC) cannot be changed. However, many drivers allow the MAC address to be changed. Additionally, there are tools which can make an operating system believe that the NIC has the MAC address of a user's choosing. The process of masking a MAC address is known as MAC spoofing. Essentially, MAC spoofing entails changing a computer's identity, for any reason, and it is relatively easy.^[1]

Motivation[edit]

The changing of the assigned MAC address may allow the bypassing of access control lists on servers or routers, either hiding a computer on a network or allowing it to impersonate another network device. MAC spoofing is done for legitimate and illicit purposes alike.

New hardware for existing Internet Service Providers (ISP)[edit]

Many ISPs register the client's MAC address for service and billing services.^[2] Since MAC addresses are unique and hard-coded on network interface controller (NIC) cards,^[1] when the client wants to connect a new gadget or change their existing gadget, the ISP will detect different MAC addresses and the ISP might not grant Internet access to those new devices. This can be circumvented easily by MAC spoofing. The client only needs to spoof the new device's MAC address to the MAC address that was registered by the ISP.^[2] In this case, the client spoofs their MAC address to gain Internet access from multiple devices. While this seems like a legitimate case, MAC spoofing new gadgets can be considered illegal if the ISP's user-agreement prevents the user from connecting more than one device to their service. Moreover, the client is not the only person who can spoof their MAC address to gain access to the ISP. Hackers can gain unauthorized access to the ISP via the same technique. This allows hackers to gain access to unauthorized services, and the hacker will be hard to identify because the hacker uses the client's identity. This action is considered an illegitimate use of MAC spoofing and illegal as well. However, it is very hard to track hackers that are utilizing MAC spoofing.^[3]

This also applies to customer-premises equipment, such as cable and DSL modems. In cases where the provider leases the equipment to the customer on a monthly basis, the CPE has a hard-coded MAC address which is on a list known to the provider's distribution networks, allowing service to be established as long as the customer is not in billing arrears. In cases where the provider allows customers to provide their own equipment (and thus avoid the monthly leasing fee on their bill,) the provider requires that the customer give them the MAC address of their equipment before service will be established.

Fulfilling software requirements[edit]

Some software can only be installed and run on systems with pre-defined MAC addresses as stated in the software end-user license agreement, and users have to comply with this requirement in order to gain access to the software. If the user has to install different hardware due to malfunction of the original device or if there is a problem with the user's NIC card, then the software will not recognize the new hardware. However, this problem can be solved using MAC spoofing. The user just has to spoof the new MAC address as to mimic the MAC address that was registered by the software.^{[citation needed]} This activity is very hard to define as either legitimate or illegitimate reason for MAC spoofing. Legal issues might arise if the user grants access to the software on multiple devices simultaneously. At the same time, the user can obtain access to software for which he or she has not secured a license. Contacting the software vendor might be the safest route to take if there is a hardware problem preventing access to the software. Software may also perform MAC filtering because the software does not want unauthorized users to gain access to certain networks to which the software grants access. In such cases MAC spoofing can be considered a serious illegal activity and can be legally punished.^[4]

Identity masking[edit]

If a user chooses to spoof their MAC address in order to protect the user's privacy,^{[citation needed]} this is called identity masking. One might wish to do this because, as an example, on a Wi-Fi network connection a MAC address is not encrypted. Even the secure IEEE 802.11i-2004 (WPA) encryption method does not prevent Wi-Fi networks from sending out MAC addresses.^{[citation needed]} Hence, in order to avoid being tracked, the user might choose to spoof the device's MAC address. However, hackers use the same technique to maneuver around network permissions without revealing their identity. Some networks use MAC filtering in order to prevent unwanted access. Hackers can use MAC spoofing to get access to a particular network and do some damage. Hackers' MAC spoofing pushes the responsibility for any illegal activity onto authentic users. As a result, the real offender may go undetected by law enforcement.^{[citation needed]}

MAC Address Randomization in WiFi[edit]

To prevent third parties from using the MAC address to track devices, Android, Linux, iOS, and Windows^[5] have implemented MAC addressrandomization. In June 2014, Apple announced that future versions of their iOS platform would randomize MAC addresses for all WiFi connections. The Linux kernel has supported MAC address randomization during network scans since March 2015,^[6] but drivers need to be updated to use this feature.^[7] Windows has supported it since the release of Windows 10^[5] in July 2015.

Controversy[edit]

Although MAC address spoofing is not illegal, its practice has caused controversy in some cases. In the 2012 indictment against Aaron Swartz Internet hacktivist, who was accused of illegally accessing files from JSTOR digital library, prosecutors claimed that because he had spoofed his MAC address it showed purposeful intent to commit criminal acts.^[4] In June 2014, Apple announced that future versions of their iOS platform would randomize MAC addresses for all WiFi connections, making it more difficult for internet service providers to track user activities and identities, which resurrected moral and legal arguments surrounding the practice of MAC spoofing among several blogs and newspapers.^[8]

Limitations[edit]

MAC address spoofing is limited to the local broadcast domain. Unlike IP address spoofing, where senders spoof their IP address in order to cause the receiver to send the response elsewhere, in MAC address spoofing the response is usually received by the spoofing party if switch is not configured to prevent MAC spoofing.