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Is it possible to hack into secured wifi and download using BitTorrent from my IP address? I live in Denmark- if that makes any difference.

We changed to a new WIFI service provider a few years back (May 2015). My girlfriend recalls better than I do that the new WIFI came with its own password (security key, I'm looking into this with the company)

I don't know which kind of "protection" my WIFI was provided with, yet: WPA, WEP, or whatever, I'm looking into that too. At the moment I know next to nothing about any of this, I should add that for all, I know the security provided by the Danish internet company (Telenor) may be top notch.

However, it appears that someone has hacked into my WIFI using my IP address and downloaded numerous films, TV programs and other activity over a 2 year period without my knowledge. This has been confirmed by the internet provider, I am now being sued by a copyright management co. and need to deal with this in court.

I need to know if it is possible, first. How so and is there anything-anything at all that you could provide me as credible proof that I could present to the court? I need anything that could at least provide reasonable doubt. I feel like I am being railroaded here. I need help and I need it fast, preferably in somewhat simple layman's terms, as I am a techno-peasant and expect a judge will be too.

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    No one can answer this unless you are able to answer which kind of "protection" the WiFi is using. Unless it's WPA2, it's highly insecure.
    – forest
    Aug 3, 2018 at 11:35
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    Is there a way someone might have gained access to the WiFi password(did you use default password or an easy-to-guess one? Or wrote it and kept it somewhere that is accessible to other people)? If yes, then irrespective of the level of security used, your WiFi could've been used by other people as well.
    – pri
    Aug 3, 2018 at 11:45
  • While yes, it is technically feasible that your wifi network could have been compromised, I would suggest you post to the Legal StackExchange board. They may be able to steer you in the direction of what type of evidence you might need to present to a judge.
    – Dan Landberg
    Aug 3, 2018 at 17:42

3 Answers 3

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Yes, it is possible to hack to your WiFi, even if you use WPA2.

There are different ways how to do it:

  • The faster is WPS Pixie Dust Attack (within some seconds),
  • the next is Reaver (some hours, also need enabled WPS),
  • and the slowest is the off-line Dictionary attack (days or weeks, or even never).

All depends on your security settings on your router (Access Point) and the uniqueness of your password, and - of course - of the the possibilities and the level of your attacker.

And, yes, then the attacker presents himself (for outer world) with the same IP address as you, assigned to you by your Internet Service Provider (as anybody in your family).

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  • @David I want to highlight the 3'd method in this question. It say days or weeks or never, but my experience is that if your password is less than 16 digits and they have a decent rig for it; an attacker can have your password in under a week pretty much guaranteed. So the important answer is that all wifi, even WPA2, is insecure and has known ways to breach it.
    – bashCypher
    Aug 3, 2018 at 16:31
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If you need to prove that it wasn't you, if possible try and get hold of logs that show the mac addresses of all of your devices. That way, when they say that you downloaded x on date y from device z, you can show that you don't own device z, and present the devices that you do own, p, q and r.

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  • It's not possible to know the MAC of the attacker from outside the network. All that leaves OP network is the IP of the router. MAC is not visible outside of the LAN, and is meaningless, as is trivial to change. If the attacker broke into his WIFI, changing the MAC is child's play.
    – ThoriumBR
    Aug 3, 2018 at 15:49
  • @ThoriumBR A router stores all device details that have connected through it, incl. MAC addresses. If the attacker has used the OP's WAP to download content, then his router will have the details of that device stored. It can be accessed trivially through the admin page for most routers, and logs show the historical data of what connected when, although it can be tedious to move through them. The attacker may have changed their MAC address, but it should still show the address of a MAC.
    – Connor J
    Aug 3, 2018 at 17:48
  • This is not the issue I pointed, is that the copyright holders cannot know the MAC of the device responsible for the downloads. And OP cannot prove he don't destroyed the device responsible, or changed the network card, or is lying about not having the suspected device.
    – ThoriumBR
    Aug 3, 2018 at 19:10
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Hacking protected WiFi is possible, happens all the time and the majority of the time the victim never know, as you only knew you have been hacked because your ISP contacted you.

If you never updated the firmware of the router, you can bet it is vulnerable, If you never changed its settings, it probably allows remote access, and the attacker could have done that.

How to prove it was not you? You must gather some evidence, they will not prove it wasn't you, but can help:

  • The MAC of all your devices
  • The MAC of all connected clients from your router
  • Make, model and version of your router
  • Screenshot of every single settings page from the router

This will not save you, but can be used to prove your router is vulnerable, you didn't knew. If your router is managed by your ISP and have a vulnerable firmware, you probably could transfer the blame to them for not updating your router and leaving it vulnerable.

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