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Can Other People See My Information?!?!?

  • 12-12-2011 7:51pm
    #1
    UsernameInUse
    Closed Accounts Posts: 778 ✭✭✭


    I'm on a Mac and I live in a building where I share the same broadband service with several others. My computer is the "HQ" for lack of a better word...but every so often when I try to save something or other, the names of the other peoples computers in the building comes onto my screen.

    Can I see what these people are up to and if so...can they see my information in return? I have a lot of important paperwork for my job, pics of my family and a lot of porn which I'm sure you can imagine, would not be pleasant to find out that other people can see.

    I've gone into System Preferences and no box is checked, including File Sharing. Maybe it's just me over reacting....is it possible others can see peoples info if they're using the same internet?


Comments

  • #2
    Tazium
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 914 ✭✭✭Tazium


    Do you have a password to login to your computer? If not, then yes they can see your stuff. If you do, I hope it's not a simple one.

    To view other computer activity on the same subnet isn't exceptionally difficult. I'm a mac novice, but believe there is a public folder where contents are automatically shared. Be mindful of what you store and consider encryption.

    Storing work information on a personally owned computer might be against company policy. Depends on the company but this could be grounds for dismissal. No comment on the porn, but be aware that if it was downloaded then file logs of you accessing it are stored.

    Lastly, it's your privacy, you should over react to ensure you are in charge of it.


  • #3
    5uspect
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 10,522 Mod ✭✭✭✭5uspect


    UsernameInUse wrote: »
    I'm on a Mac and I live in a building where I share the same broadband service with several others. My computer is the "HQ" for lack of a better word...but every so often when I try to save something or other, the names of the other peoples computers in the building comes onto my screen.

    Can I see what these people are up to and if so...can they see my information in return? I have a lot of important paperwork for my job, pics of my family and a lot of porn which I'm sure you can imagine, would not be pleasant to find out that other people can see.

    I've gone into System Preferences and no box is checked, including File Sharing. Maybe it's just me over reacting....is it possible others can see peoples info if they're using the same internet?

    What exactly do you mean by HQ? You're going to need to be much more precise with your language.

    The sidebar in Finder, the file browser in OS X, will list all the machines it finds on the network including windows machines. If people have stuff shared then you can see it, copy it and if they're really taking the piss delete it.

    When you say you can see what they are up to, do you simply mean you can browse their files? You're not seeing their screen activity?


  • #4
    yoyo
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,017 Mod ✭✭✭✭yoyo


    Tazium wrote: »
    Do you have a password to login to your computer? If not, then yes they can see your stuff. If you do, I hope it's not a simple one.

    To view other computer activity on the same subnet isn't exceptionally difficult. I'm a mac novice, but believe there is a public folder where contents are automatically shared. Be mindful of what you store and consider encryption.

    Storing work information on a personally owned computer might be against company policy. Depends on the company but this could be grounds for dismissal. No comment on the porn, but be aware that if it was downloaded then file logs of you accessing it are stored.

    Lastly, it's your privacy, you should over react to ensure you are in charge of it.

    Having a password or not shouldnt make a difference. although if theres others in the building it would be a good idea obviously so no one can go on the actual machine snooping around. Once your computer is configured to not have all folders being shared you should be ok. The shared folder will likely be visable to all on the network, not using it or changing the settings so it isn't shared will help.
    Regarding browser monitoring someone with some knowledge and access to the modem/router may be able to see what sites you visit using a packet sniffer i.e: Wireshark. Some modems can also be configured to monitor internet activity, or even use another DNS provider such as OpenDNS which will monitor the internet usage.
    It is possible when sharing a connection for all of these to occur but chances are your ok.

    Nick

    My Beer Glass collection site 🍺

    My Irish Callcards site



  • #5
    UsernameInUse
    Closed Accounts Posts: 778 ✭✭✭UsernameInUse


    Hi,

    My comp is on the bottom floor where the router/modem is located "HQ" in my words :pac:. Everyone else in the building is living off the wireless from my setup. Now, sometimes I can see "Johns PC", "Micks PC", "Jerry's PC", "Sara's PC" popping up on my screen and I'm so terrified to click into it in case they can see on their screens that I'm trying to get into their info...which I'm not, I just don't want them to see mine.

    Is it possible that once in System Preferences and the File Sharing box is left unchecked, that there is positively absolutely no way of anyone seeing my info? And no, nobody has access to my Mac or the router/modem.


  • #6
    yoyo
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,017 Mod ✭✭✭✭yoyo


    UsernameInUse wrote: »
    Hi,

    My comp is on the bottom floor where the router/modem is located "HQ" in my words :pac:. Everyone else in the building is living off the wireless from my setup. Now, sometimes I can see "Johns PC", "Micks PC", "Jerry's PC", "Sara's PC" popping up on my screen and I'm so terrified to click into it in case they can see on their screens that I'm trying to get into their info...which I'm not, I just don't want them to see mine.

    Is it possible that once in System Preferences and the File Sharing box is left unchecked, that there is positively absolutely no way of anyone seeing my info? And no, nobody has access to my Mac or the router/modem.

    Its likely all thats showing is their Windows shared folder, which they likely do not use, don't worry about it :P . They wont notice anything if you click in anyways.
    Once you arn't sharing folders you have nothing to worry about, if you were to share folders on your Mac then people will probably be able to find them,

    Nick

    My Beer Glass collection site 🍺

    My Irish Callcards site



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  • #7
    5uspect
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 10,522 Mod ✭✭✭✭5uspect


    Your mac is just another machine on the network. The router is a separate device and everyone, including you, connects to it. If you fire up itunes you will probably see everyone's music library also.

    You can get tools that tell you who is connected to your machine and what they're looking at but this is for when you want to control who's accessing your shares. Since you've disabled file sharing you should be fine.


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