A Word Of Warning...
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- Re: A Word Of Warning...
A Word Of Warning...
02-03-2013 5:22 PM
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This week, we believe the wifi on her Plusnet supplied router was compromised. She is on a 10GB allowance (which she never goes anywhere near to the limit). Her account has download 60GB since last Saturday, and Plusnet have slapped her with a £50 bill!!! (she only picks up emails once a week, so she only realized this was going on yesterday, when 10 emails from Plusnet arrived all in sequence telling here they they were charging her for extra data and taking more money).
Plusnet (we feel) are being very tight over the £50 charge, although support were really good, they connected and changed he Wifi password (which was the default one the router came with).
I don't know how secure the default Plusnet routers WPA passwords are, but it may be something that's easily compromised by the sounds of it. It's now a real shame, my mother is dead scared of the Internet and Plusnet's data charges and caps, it's more than likely going to turn her offline I did mention that perhaps she could move to unlimited, which would remove the worry, but with the £50 data charge and a increase in the monthly subscription, it's unlikely to wash.
Re: A Word Of Warning...
02-03-2013 5:31 PM
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The default password is usually the unit serial number for recent equipment, so a "standard" format but I'm always surprised that people don't make any changes from defaults (though I'm happy to change things and find what got screwed as a result ), though that may be from a lack of understanding the potential problems.
Using a TP-Link Archer VR600 modem-router.
Re: A Word Of Warning...
02-03-2013 5:36 PM
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This has left both of us feeling cheated by Plusnet. Only last week, they diddled me out of money on the phone side of things (ticket 65414991) (I did eventually get it refunded by providing evidence that services weren't being removed their end when requested).
I guess this is the new BT-Plusnet, rather than the Plusnet I joined up to 10 years ago.
Re: A Word Of Warning...
02-03-2013 5:44 PM
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Quote from: ClashcityRocker It wouldn't let me do that, £0 was invalid (as was £5), I had to set it to something over £50!!!
That does surprise me, as I set my level to £0, though it was relatively recently when I went above 5GB halfway through the month for the first time and got close to 8.5GB by the end
Using a TP-Link Archer VR600 modem-router.
Re: A Word Of Warning...
02-03-2013 5:52 PM
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So you have door keys do you leave them in the door? Her router is the door, make it safe.
Re: A Word Of Warning...
02-03-2013 5:55 PM
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Plusnet support connected via my mothers laptop last night, confirmed WPA was already in use, and changed the password for her.
The account has never been intentionally set to auto upgrade, that must be the default behavior for accounts.
Re: A Word Of Warning...
02-03-2013 6:08 PM
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Quote from: ClashcityRocker The account has never been intentionally set to auto upgrade, that must be the default behavior for accounts.
I believe that is the default, with no upper limit set on the charges
Strictly, I don't think it is an "upgrade" but a "purchase additional bandwidth this month".
Edit: As the encryption was set, has the computer been checked for malware? Does the router have a mechanism for logging traffic, which is turned on so that the volume of data through the router can be checked for source?
Using a TP-Link Archer VR600 modem-router.
Re: A Word Of Warning...
02-03-2013 6:27 PM
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The data usage has dropped back to the normal 100Mb/day she normally used, now the Wifi password was changed, which is telling.....
Re: A Word Of Warning...
02-03-2013 7:27 PM
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Using a TP-Link Archer VR600 modem-router.
Re: A Word Of Warning...
02-03-2013 7:30 PM
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Re: A Word Of Warning...
03-03-2013 10:06 AM
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From what has gone before, it appears the limit was active at the last billing cycle, so the change can be requested now but will become active at the next billing cycle - though that is what I expect you intended
Using a TP-Link Archer VR600 modem-router.
Re: A Word Of Warning...
03-03-2013 11:10 AM
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Quote from: ClashcityRocker It wouldn't let me do that, £0 was invalid (as was £5), I had to set it to something over £50!!!
Definitely something amiss there. Like many, mine is set to £0.
That'd be worth pursuing with PN to dig a little deeper as obviously if it hadn't forced such a high amount your mother wouldn't be paying out so much.
Mathew
Re: A Word Of Warning...
03-03-2013 12:10 PM
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If so, that seems wrong, as like she said, it was only by chance she went on and collected her email, who knows how much the bill may have been if she hadn't Quite easily hundreds of pounds, which for a pensioner is very worrying.
On a more technical note, there are quite clearly some failings on the Plusnet provided router side of things.
Firstly, the default SSID mentions Plusnet, which if someone wanted to hack a wifi point, you have already basically told them what model router that person is using.... Secondly, we really don't know that the WPA keys are truly random. Sure they look random, but are they really???
I have mitigated some of the issues, already the WPA password was changed, I have also changed the SSID. I have also setup mail forwards to Gmail, so all her email goes to her Android phone and tablet ( as the infrequent mail collection is what allowed the charge to escalate), I also updated the email address on her Plusnet account to be her GMail account, and not her Plusnet account.
Re: A Word Of Warning...
03-03-2013 12:14 PM
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Be very careful jumping to conclusions - the only fact so far is that the limit has been breached. It is pure speculation that the wireless was compromised.
Re: A Word Of Warning...
03-03-2013 12:22 PM
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- Previous months never go above 4GB for the entire month.
- Since last Saturday 80GB has been downloaded (50GB of that chargable).
- Since changing wifi passwords, usage is back to normal.
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