Diciphering event viewer logs for wifi security breaches.

[braeseven]

I have been allowing a friend/neighbor access to my wifi to offset the cost of my internet. I was startled the other day when he mentioned that the Avaste anti virus he has installed on his computer detected malware on my computer over wifi during a scan. I checked Event Viewer Security logs and found many logins from his computer going back to when I first allowed him access. In the System logs there are also several warnings and errors with 'browser' or 'bowser' as the sources. I don't want to confront him or cut him off if these log events are fairly normal when sharing wifi. Any help/info would be appreciated. Oh, and i'm using Windows 7. Thanks.

 

[anotherdrew]

When you share WiFi, you and your neighbor are on the same network. This is not necessarily a bad thing except that Windows tends to trust other computer on the same network (same network then same family, workplace, entity, etc). If you have sharing turned on, then others on the same network can access what you have shared.

2 solutions ...

Some access points (or WiFi router) will allow you to setup multiple networks. Check the owners manual or log into your device and see what is possible. Many will offer a guest network. Sometimes guest networks are not password protected and would then be a poor choice.

Turn off sharing. If you don't need to share information from computer to computer, then turn off sharing. I have not worked on Windows 7 in a while, so I will link instructions ... http://www.calstatela.edu/its/services/software/howto/Windows/filesharingwin7.php ... let me know if those don't work.

 

[braeseven]

thanks very much for your help anotherdrew!