Unraveling the Mystery of Spoofed Wi-Fi: Are My In-Laws’ Internet Credentials Compromised?
Living under the same roof as your in-laws can come with its own set of challenges, but an unusual Wi-Fi conundrum has turned my temporary residence into a high-tech mystery. Despite my background in Cyber Security and Computer Science, I’m encountering a situation I’ve never seen before. Here’s the story and what I’ve discovered so far.
The Setup: A Home with Weakened Wi-Fi
Currently, I’m living with my spouse’s parents in the UK where they utilize Virgin Media as their Internet Service Provider. Their router, a Hub 3, has been set to factory default settings, which means both the Wi-Fi SSID and password are easily accessible on a sticker affixed to the router.
With an increased number of people in the household, the Virgin Hub was overwhelmed with the volume of connections. To remedy this, I decided to invest in a high-performance router, planning to set the Hub to modem mode and allow the new device to take over all Wi-Fi responsibilities.
The Discovery: A Mysterious Signal
As I began my reconfiguration, I noticed my phone still detected a weak connection to the Virgin router—even when it was powered off. Intrigued, I employed a Wi-Fi analyzer app and discovered a surprisingly strong signal emanating from the back of the house, particularly in my in-laws’ bedroom. Interestingly, the signal varied in strength even within that single room.
When I raised my findings with my in-laws, they were adamant that there was no additional access point in their home. Given that their bedroom had recently undergone renovation and that everything was plugged into the Virgin Hub, it seemed paradoxical. The most logical conclusion pointed to the source of the connection being from the neighbouring property.
Connectivity from the Neighbour’s Network
To complicate matters further, the mystery access point was identified as a TalkTalk router—completely different from Virgin Media’s network. A quick WHOIS lookup on my public IP confirmed that it indeed directed back to a TalkTalk connection. The kicker? This router was using our SSID and WPA2 password.
This revelation raised several eyebrows and questions:
- Who gained access to my in-laws’ Wi-Fi credentials?
- How did an entirely different network adopt those settings?
- Is this simply a coincidence or something more serious?
Theories on the
Share this content:
