Wide open Network allowing default remote connection router logon

[KingMidas]

I was wired into my router via ethernet to configure it and when i put the usual 192.168.1.1 in, i was entering user name and password and it wouldn;t login even though it was correct, when i looked at the device name at the top it was a different model router so i googled it and found it to be a belkin.

I was baffled for a while till i discovered that my wireless card had connected to an open network automaticly and this gave me the option to log on to the router via remote managment using default login . I couldn't belive that it would be this wide open out of the box

I attempted to log on as i was just curious if it really was wide open. Using the info on the router config which showed connected devices/sites visited etc i was able to identify the user as the device name was set as "first name last name's PC"

I managed to track down who it was and have informed them how wide open it was and helped them set up basic security and certanly disable remote login as default. I also told them that there were several others looged onto to their network and they were quite suprised and mentioned how it did randomly go really slow.

This was a bit of a sensitive subject in terms of connecting to an unowned network etc and its not something i make a habbit of i literally stumbled across it by accident and used it for a good cause so i hope people won't jump on me for this. All the stuff i practice, i do on my own network controlled for learning purposes

i just wanted to share this experience and how open this kit was by default and see if anybody had heard of this with belkin kit.

[TRB01]

The linksys routers come ready to go, plug into the wall then plug your dsl cable in and your ready to go. Defauly SSID on channl 6, default everything. I've frequently fixed friends' and families' Verizon-installed routers that still use the default passwords, and weak WEP encryption. Nobody thinks about what it means. It's like using a zip-tie to lock your car up. It's closed, but not safe. That was very nice of you to tell the owner. I hope none of those other people had malicious intents.