hacking through shared internet connection?

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Guest

I share an internet connection with some renters in my house. I want to know
whether there's any chance that they could hack into my computer through our
shared internet and see some of the websites I've accessed. I've sent
confidential information online (i.e. credit card info) and I don't want them
(or anyone) to be able to see that.

I've got windows vista, and updated anti-virus and spyware detector, but
would I be more vulnerable to them considering we share an internet
connection? Will they be able to see the websites I've been on?

Thanks
 
If you use the built-in firewall on Windows Vista you are no more vulnerable
to them than you would be to any other computer on the Internet.

The question is whether you do or not. When Windows Vista popped up and
asked what kind of network you are on did you select "Home" or "Public"? If
you selected "Home" then your computer would enable services to your renters
that are not available to other computers on the Internet.

To find out how your comptuer is configured, right-click the little icon in
the bottom right that looks like two computers and a globe. Select "Network
and Sharing Center". At the top you see a picture with the name of your
network. If the picture has a park bench in it you selected "public" and
right below it would say "Public network." If it has a house you selected
"Home" and you are on a private network, and it would say "private network"
just below.

Since yours is not a private network you should change it if it is set to
public. To do that, click "Customize" in that screen and select public. That
will turn off sharing with other computers on the network.

If you use a third-party security product that includes a firewall none of
this works. In that case you need to refer to that vendor's documentation to
find out how they treat the local network.
 
Your computer can be secured to make it hard for them to hack into it. There
is another problem with this scenario though. If the Internet connection is
registered to you and they do something illegal while on the Internet the
illegal action will be traced to you. In a worst case scenario they could
download child porn and the police would confiscate your computer. The
publicity could be quite damaging even after the mixup was discovered.
 
Wouldn't changing my network to Home make me more vulnerable to others using
the same internet connection?
 
Yes it would. That is my point. If you do not have a private network you
should select public, not home, or work.
 
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