Sharing Files On 2 Computors On A Wireless Network

[puuchai299]

Hi, I have a wireless internet setup where 20 rooms can access the internet,which is accessed by a wep key,now i'm not that clever with computors yet,so my question is,firstly i have 2 notebooks in my room and would like to know if it is possible to set something up between the 2 notebooks to be able to view files such as spreadsheets on both notebooks,example if some file is on one but not the other,can i access it from the one it is not on?

question 2, can anyone sharing the internet connection from the wireless router access info from mine or other shared users without them knowing?I will try to search for info on the net and pc but if anyone can help me understand more i would be very thankful of your help.thanks...

[OriginalPoster]

#1 - Yes.

#2 - It depends how you set it up. Depending upon which operating system you're using the procedure will be a little different, but it's generally possible to restrict access only certain users and to require the user to know a password to gain access.

Assuming that you're using Windows, Google around a bit with keywords such as "Windows File Sharing" or "Windows Mapping Shared Drives" and you should find a wealth of information about how to proceed.

[welo]

If you have a setup where you share the wireless network with other non-trusted users you should protect your computers as much as possible. This is very different from typical home user setups where computers on your LAN can be considered 'friendly' and your computers are secured from direct attacks from the internet by your router.

In your case you should make absolutely sure that your Windows Firewall is up and running. You should further enable as few open ports (exceptions) as possible. Enabling file sharing will 'open a door' that - if misconfigured - can be abused to attack your computer.

Of course the possibility that somebody from another room wants to attack you is minimal (well, depends on the business that you are in ), so in reality the biggest threat will come not from intentional attacks but from other computers that have been hacked or infected with a virus.

However, if you are an experienced user and you misconfigure file sharing you might as well end up with your files being fully accessible without password (in the worst case). Another 'curious' user might then be tempted to poke around and see what you have there.

If you are in control of the network setup you might think about setting up 2 (wireless) networks, one for you and one for your customers. But this is definitely not a job for a common home user

welo

[bendejo]

Yes to both.

If you decide to start dabbling with the visibility of your system over a public network you should study up on it to the point of understanding what's going on and being able to determine if you have someone's interest, and if so what to do about it (other than just shutting it down). If that sounds like too much trouble than play it safe and stick with a pen drive for transferring files.

[puuchai299]

Thanks for spending your time to help me,i have done some googling and have set up the 2 notebooks to share files as a home network,and now i have access to others on the wireless network (with there permisssion)to see if my home networkk can be seen from there computers in any way,if so i will revert back to the flashdrive method,thanks again....

[Spoonman]

Puuchai299, you can set a password on your homegroup, only people you give this password can access the files your sharing.

Alternatively (its been a while) but im sure you can limit who you share with, you have the option the share all or nominate the other puters who can gain access.

[Crushdepth]

Anyone that is connected to the wireless LAN can see the data you send/receive. That means anyone with the WEP key, and anyone that wants to break in. WEP encryption is hopelessly broken, switch to WPA2 if your equipment allows and use a good strong key.

[welo]

There are multiple levels of vulnerability in a scenario where you share a network with other supposedly 'unfriendly' computers, a so-called 'untrusted network'.

1.

A severe misconfiguration of file sharing might open your computer's files to everyone on the network. A misconfiguration might be a weak administrator/user/share password, enabling of the guest account, etc. This would be very easy to exploit but is also easy to avoid/fix by gathering enough knowledge on windows file sharing and basic security measurements (Firewall, strong passwords, etc).

2.

Any traffic (data) sent over a WEP secured network can be read by other users on that network with the help of special software (packet sniffers). This affects not only your file shares but any communication that your computers send over the network, e.g. any passwords sent in clear text without any additional encryption. For instance, if your email client is setup to retrieve emails via POP3 without SSL your password can be easily stolen.

In addition, WEP is considered unsecure for years now because the WEP key can be easily obtained/hacked to get access to the network.

Btw, WPA is a major improvement on protecting the users on the network from those outside, but it is still possible (though harder) to sniff traffic when you have access to the key/network (with WPA-PSK).

3.

Since your computer is directly exposed to an unfriendly network you are much more vulnerable to direct attacks than compared to a normal home setup where there are no 'unfriendly' computers on the network.

Of course, most of the security risks laid out here still require a person with the intention to break in/attack. Just don't rely too much on the absence of motivated criminals

welo

[Phuketshrew]

#1 - Yes.

#2 - It depends how you set it up. Depending upon which operating system you're using the procedure will be a little different, but it's generally possible to restrict access only certain users and to require the user to know a password to gain access.

Assuming that you're using Windows, Google around a bit with keywords such as "Windows File Sharing" or "Windows Mapping Shared Drives" and you should find a wealth of information about how to proceed.

You couls also look at using Google Apps for file sharing and collaboration?