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Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port

shermans
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Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port

Apologies if this topic has been discussed to death as no doubt it has been.

I used to use the USB port on my router effortlessly until about maybe a year ago when it suddenly stopped working.  I fiddled around but could not understand why.  It has been inconvenient and I had another go at it today, in the course of which I discovered that it uses SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support which is now evidently deemed a security risk and is a no-no, apparently disabled under a Windows Update recently.

In view of that, is there any alternative way of accessing the USB port on the back of the Hub One router ?

If not, why is it there still ?  I had a BT Home Hub and only recently upgraded my Plusnet account and received the latest issue router, the Hub One which I understand is the the same as the BT Homehub 5.

 

I just want to be able to use the USB on the router again.  I could override the Windows Update by re Enabling it under Programs and Features, but I would be uncomfortable if there really is a risk.

Thanks for your tolerance !

26 REPLIES 26
SilentWight
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Re: Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port

CiFS Fix, if I don't enable it I can not see my back up NAS drives, it is a problem that a lot of people have, security risk is less if you don not enable Client from the 3 tick boxes.

markhawkin
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Re: Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port

@shermans

 

If you have a requirement for file sharing then spending the money on a "proper" Network Attached Storage device is probably the way to go.

Having tried a few over the years (Buffalo, Western Digital & Synology), for me the higher cost of the Synology is worthwhile because of the many possible features.

Otherwise what about Dropbox, OneDrive or similar ?

It would be nice if ISP routers would act better as NAS drives but they are built to a cost (and obviously firmware development has a cost) so sadly the "nice to have" features get missed.

I am the satisfied customer....
SilentWight
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Re: Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port

This is true, use freenas myself but Onedrive or Google drive would be nice easy to use solution with a shared folder. Got a buffalo nas drive myself works fine with the supplied app.
shermans
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Re: Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port

Unfortunately, I do not trust the cloud but maybe I should give it a go - very reluctant as I am old fashioned - if I can't touch it, then I am not at ease !  But I suppose that it would be more secure than the USB port !

SilentWight
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Re: Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port

You can always buy a bunch of usb sticks add your files and post them via snail mail with recorded delivery that would be a secure way Wink 

Baldrick1
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Re: Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port


@shermans wrote:

I used to use the USB port on my router effortlessly until about maybe a year ago when it suddenly stopped working.  I fiddled around but could not understand why.  It has been inconvenient and I had another go at it today, in the course of which I discovered that it uses SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support which is now evidently deemed a security risk and is a no-no, apparently disabled under a Windows Update recently.


Let me show my ignorance here as I do not have a Hub One or use the USB port on my Smarthub.

If the USB port is only used to share data on an internal network there should only be a risk from other users on the local network.

OR is a device plugged in at risk from the external world, but presumaly protected by the router firewall?

In short, where is the risk coming from?

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Anonymous
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Re: Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port

@Baldrick1 - If the device is accessible from the LAN then it has the same exposure to risk from anyone inside or outside the LAN as does any other device on it.

Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port

@shermans Another option you have is to encrypt the files you are going to put on the cloud using PKI encryption and give your public key to those you trust. Just because it’s a ‘public’ key does not mean that the World and their Wives have access to it.

I don’t know for certain if the information is available via the cloud sites, but once you have uploaded a file and those you want to get access to it have downloaded it you can simply delete it. OK it’s housekeeping you can do without but what price peace of mind.

Or, if you’re really twitchy you could create a Public / Private key pair for each file you upload, or do it once or every other week etc depending on your needs.

 

Baldrick1
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Re: Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port

OK, I get that. So the risk of getting accessed by an outside hacker is no greater than say a computer with no means of accessing the web (no email client, web browser or apps/operating system that call home) sitting on the LAN? 

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shermans
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Re: Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port

The "Network Browse" function has been disabled on Windows 10 v1709 and higher.
SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support has been disabled on Windows 10 Windows 10 Fall Creators Update version 1709 and higher.

The Computer Browser service relies on the SMB 1.0 protocol to populate the Windows Explorer Network node (also known as "Network Neighborhood"). This legacy protocol is long deprecated, doesn't route, and has limited security. Because the service cannot function without SMB 1.0, it is removed when SMB 1.0 is disabled.

For more details, please refer to Microsoft Article SMBv1 is not installed by default in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and Windows Server, version 170...

Enabling the "Network Browse" feature on a Windows 10 v1709 and higher requires enabling "CIFS SMB v1.0 and File Sharing" which is disabled by default due to security risk. Mapping the network drive is recommended over enabling the "Network Browse" feature.

I admit I am out of my depth here, but I did re-enable SMBv1 without any problem, but then got cold feet about the security issue and disabled it again.  In the past, I did have the network drive mapped as "Z:" but of course it stopped working after SMB v1.0 was disabled.

There is just one small file that I use repeatedly over four computers, and for good reasons which I will not go into here - which you can probably guess - I did not want that file locally loaded on any computer, but just wanted to access the file from each computer as and when needed  by clicking on "Z:".

Anonymous
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Re: Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port

@Baldrick1, the fact that a device cannot access the Internet has no bearing on it, it is the fact that it is on the LAN that makes it a potential target for anyone that can gain access to the LAN either directly or via the Internet.

Once you have access to the LAN you then have the potential to access to anything on it. Say a user has a USB device attached directly to their PC and the LAN has been compromised the next target would be the PC and once access was attained then there is nothing stopping the attacker from lifting or destroying anything on the USB device.

 

Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port


@shermans wrote:

There is just one small file that I use repeatedly over four computers, and for good reasons which I will not go into here - which you can probably guess - I did not want that file locally loaded on any computer, but just wanted to access the file from each computer as and when needed  by clicking on "Z:".


@shermans,  as this file is local to yourself then by far the best option would be to put it on an (encrypted) USB thumb drive and carry it with you. You then have the peace of mind that the drive is encrypted and secure in your pocket when not in use.

Of course my reply above to Balrdick1 still applies here, once you have inserted the device into a PC then anyone with access to the LAN as the potential to access the drive while its inserted.

Baldrick1
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Re: Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port

Fine @Anonymous, I'm still with you, but surely if the hacker needs access to a PC on the LAN before being able to get to the USB memory device then the USB device is at no greater risk than the hard drive on the PC that has been hacked? If this is the case then doesn't a decent Internet security suite on all LAN facing PCs protect the USB device?

This brings me back to my original question: 'where does the risk come from?' Is the answer: Inadequate Internet security on PCs and other devices connected to the LAN which have access the Internet?

I can see that this means that an easily hackable say baby monitor could open up access to the LAN and hence the USB memory. However the USB memory is not at risk without some sort of compromised device providing a bridge being present on the LAN.

Edit

Thinking about it a bit more 'compromised device' also includes gaining access directly to the LAN through, for

example, wireless passwords being cracked and my pet hate, Powerline devices left on their default password.setting.

However I don't see the connection between any of these risks and the Win 10 settings on a PC that might not even be switched on.

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Anonymous
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Re: Probably an old chestnut - Connecting to Plusnet Hub One USB port


@Baldrick1 wrote:

Fine @Anonymous, I'm still with you, but surely if the hacker needs access to a PC on the LAN before being able to get to the USB memory device then the USB device is at no greater risk than the hard drive on the PC that has been hacked?


This is very much the case, but remember initially this was with reference to a USB device mounted on the Router.



Everything you say is perfectly logical and correct but equally it is all down to how the system was compromised. For example if the hacker has gained elevated privileges then the Internet Security software is moot because as far as the PC is concerned the User albeit a 'hacker' has the right to do what they want.

It is as you know a very complicated subject so the integrity of the WAN / LAN should not be taken for granted just because there is a Firewall and PC based 'Internet Security'.