Can a router be detected?

[IsOs]

Can an ISP provider detect a presence of a router in a network?

 

[obenton]

Probably can be identified as such by the unique MAC number that manufacturers hard-code into networking devices such as NICs, routers, modems, etc. Whether an ISP would go through the trouble of doing this with all connecting MAC numbers is another matter. If, instead of a hardware router, you connect and share access with a second NIC and sharing software, the MAC number that connects would be a standard NIC, and there is no way to tell how many computers are getting access through the server (unless they could get access to your computer and examine the registry, which you could prevent by unbinding Client for MS Networks and file sharing from the internet NIC, and installing a good firewall).

 

[IsOs]

I visited a site that can analyze my connection & told me what I have, including the presence of a firewall and the type & version of the proxy.

I'm just wondering if hardware router also present the same weakness - having a webpage analyze & successfully tell what type of firewall, router etc.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Wizkid]

What website is this? I am curious

 

[nexus9]

Yeah, they can look at the ethernet MAC address and figure out the manufacturer of your network card (look at http://www.cavebear.com/CaveBear/Ethernet/vendor.html for an example). Also, if you're really a "router" you'll be sending out routing packets like RIP or OSPF, which are easily detected.

Frequently, you can figure out what kind of machine is connected by doing a port scan and seeing what's configured. If you really want to get into this, you should check out the book "Hacking Exposed" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...3/sr=8-1/ref=aps_sr_b_1_3/103-3197739-2910268)

-Nexus9

 

[IsOs]

Wicked, I don't think it's appropriate to discuss the site. But it's a very informative site - it publishes all the known weaknesses of any software & hardware connections. To the mentally challenged people however, it might served as a very destructive tool.

Thanks for the replies.