12/17/2020 Can My Mac Be Hacked Remotely
If you don't want to tape over your Mac's FaceTime camera, free and paid software can alert you when the camera and microphone are activated. You’re being watched through your hacked. Jun 20, 2020 Look for remote access programs in your list of running programs. See Wipe Clean a Computer and Start Over for instructions on formatting your Windows or Mac computer and reinstalling the operating system. This will ensure that a hacker cannot use the password from one hacked service to access another. Part 1: How to hack an iPhone remotely via KidsGuard. KidsGuard has created a name of its own in the list of the most popular iPhone hacking apps. It can be used without installing the app on the monitored device. It comes with a continuum of features that make the hacking process a lot easier.
My router had port forwarding enabled for that mini-mac so that I can access cameras from outside. Yesterday, I was working on my regular mac when suddenly my screen moved to the 'login screen'. I also noticed the screenshare icon was connected and when I hovered over it, it was my mini-mac ip address. 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.
The Find My app combines Find My iPhone and Find My Friends into a single app for iOS 13, iPadOS, and macOS Catalina. If you need help finding it, use Search on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, or use Spotlight on your Mac. You can also share locations or find missing devices on iCloud.com.
If you don't have iOS 13, iPadOS, macOS Catalina, or watchOS 6, set up and use Find My iPhone and Find My Friends instead of Find My, or log in to iCloud.com.
With Find My, you can locate and protect your Mac if it's ever lost or stolen. You need to set up Find My Mac before it goes missing. To turn it on, simply choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then click iCloud. If you believe that your Mac was stolen, contact your local law enforcement.
Use Find My to locate your computer
If you set up Find My Mac before your Mac was lost or stolen, you can use it to locate your Mac on a map, or play a sound to help you find it. You can also use it to remotely lock or erase your Mac. To use Find My, sign in to iCloud.com on another computer or open the Find My app for iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
Locate your Mac on a map
Open the Find My app and select your Mac from the list of devices to view its location on a map and get directions.
Play a sound
If your Mac is nearby, you can have it play a sound to help you or someone nearby find it.
Lock your Mac
You can use Find My to mark your computer as lost, which remotely locks it with a passcode. You can also display a custom message on its screen.
Erase your Mac
You can use Find My to remotely erase all your personal information from your Mac.
What if my Mac is shut down or offline?
If your Mac is turned off or offline, you can still use Find My to request a notification when it’s located, or lock or erase it remotely. The next time your Mac is online, the actions take effect. If you remove your Mac from Find My when it's offline, your requests are canceled.
How do I unlock my Mac?
After you locate your Mac, you can unlock it with your passcode on iCloud.com. Make sure to use the passcode that you created when you locked it with Find My, not your device passcode.
Here's how to see the passcode that you used to lock your Mac:
You can look up your passcode for a limited time. If you forget your passcode or can't verify your identity to see it, take your Mac to an Apple Authorized Service Provider along with your proof of purchase. https://reenergy763.weebly.com/video-enhancement-software-for-mac-free-download.html.
If you can't find your Mac
Find My Mac is the only Apple service that can help track or locate a lost Mac. If you didn’t set up Find My Mac before your Mac was lost, or you can’t locate it, these steps might help you protect your data:
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made on our website. If you make a purchase through links from this website, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure.
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.
Toxic biohazard vst free download. Let’s see what hackers can do if they are physically connected to the WiFi you are using.
Can My Mac Be Hacked Remotely AccountMan 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:
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:
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:
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 RemotelyCan My Mac Be Hacked Remotely Iphone
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:
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:
My Mac Has Been HackedLearn Network Hacking From Scratch (WiFi & Wired)
Also, check my other post:
Photo credit: ©canva.com/cyano66
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