Do internet routers log your history?
I can’t speak for all of them but my home wireless router can. I have a NetGear WNDR4300. In the advanced administration screen I have the following checked for logging:• Attempted access to allowed sites • Attempted access to blocked sites and services • Connections to the Web-based interface of this Router • Router operation (startup, get time etc) • Known DoS attacks and Port Scans • Port Forwarding / Port Triggering • Wireless accessThe notes on that screen are:Logs Help. A log is a detailed record of the websites that users on your network have accessed or attempted to access. If you have set up content filtering on the Block Sites screen, the Logs screen shows you when someone on your network tried to access a blocked site. If you have e-mail notification on, you will receive these logs in an e-mail message. If you do not have e-mail notification set up, you can view the logs here.Just a part of my current log looks like this:[admin login] from source 192.168.1.4, Friday, June 24, 2016 19:30:32[DoS Attack: RST Scan] from source: 115.182.75.65, port 443, Friday, June 24, 2016 18:58:35[DoS Attack: RST Scan] from source: 108.160.172.225, port 443, Friday, June 24, 2016 18:53:36[UPnP set event: add_nat_rule] from source 192.168.1.7, Friday, June 24, 2016 18:41:35[UPnP set event: del_nat_rule] from source 192.168.1.7, Friday, June 24, 2016 18:41:32[Access Control] Device STR-DN1030 with MAC address XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX is allowed to access the network, Friday, June 24, 2016 18[DHCP IP: 192.168.1.8] to MAC address XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX, Friday, June 24, 2016 18:40:05[Access Control] Device Unknown with MAC address XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX is allowed to access the network, Friday, June 24, 2016 18:39[DHCP IP: 192.168.1.2] to MAC address XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX, Friday, June 24, 2016 18:39:11[DoS Attack: TCP/UDP Chargen] from source: 185.94.111.1, port 44663, Friday, June 24, 2016 18:15:46[Internet connected] IP address: 76.182.230.108, Friday, June 24, 2016 17:48:23[DoS Attack: RST Scan] from source: 108.160.172.193, port 443, Friday, June 24, 2016 17:45:18[UPnP set event: add_nat_rule] from source 192.168.1.7, Friday, June 24, 2016 17:41:44[UPnP set event: del_nat_rule] from source 192.168.1.7, Friday, June 24, 2016 17:41:31I blanked out the MAC addresses just because. Pretty exciting stuff right?
I'm using a VPN on my laptop which is connected to the Internet via a wireless router. Can my ISP see what I am downloading?
They can if DNS leak protection is not enabled and encryption is strong. You should always check if your VPN has all the required encryption and protocols to protect your online identity, and if they don't keep logs.
Does VPN hide web activities from a local router and router logs?
To add to the other great comments here, your web activity will only be hidden if that traffic flows across the VPN. In a typical VPN from, lets say, a computer at home to a corporate network, the VPN may only be configured to route traffic to the corporate network through the VPN tunnel. All other traffic would be routed normally, and be visible to the local router. This is known as "Split Tunnel" and is generally configured at the VPN device the computer is connecting to.A quick way to check would be to compare your public IP address when connected to the VPN, to when not connected (such as from What Is My IP - The IP Address Experts Since 1999). If they are different, then your web traffic is flowing through the VPN, and you are using the corporate office's internet connection.
Can residential wireless routers log my internet activity if I'm using a VPN like ZenMate? What would I need to do to configure my VPN to make it so my Network Admin cant see what im searching.
"Like ZenMate ?"ZenMate explicitly states that it only works for browsers, not other traffic (non-web email, torrents, games...)To fix it so your network admin won't log addresses you visit, use any proxy or VPN. To fix it so they can't see exactly what you are doing even if they explicitly monitor your traffic (which is likely an invasion of privacy and could get an admin fired if they were found doing it), use a VPN or proxy with SSL security. Or the Tor browser.If you seriously think you are of interest to a government agency or other capable adversary, you need better protection. For a start, Google logs your searches so they can target you with ads.
Can one track my real IP address when I use VPNs?
Generally speaking, yes.Your VPN still runs from your IP address to the VPN server. Your ISP can still see all the packets running from your computer to the VPN server, and although they may not be able to decode the contents or final destinations of them, they can usually still identify the kind of traffic (i.e. web pages, streaming, P2P, etc) by analysing the timing and density.Can your final destinations “track” your IP address when you connect to them via a VPN connection, no, they cannot. The VPN server will mask your IP address when connecting to your destinations on your behalf.That being said, if you use your regular browser, even on VPN, you will still be exposing all of your cookies, and websites will still know who you are as your IP address is usually immaterial to them.
Can the network admin view my activity even if I"m using a VPN?
No, they can't unless your VPN is not configured properly and/or you are leaking some information. When you try accessing a website, domain name is translated to an IP address: DNS leak test. Default DNS setting generally resolves DNS through your ISP which essentially means they know which websites you visit through DNS. When you are connected to a VPN, DNS should be resolved by your VPN provider, but it's not always the case especially under heavy load. The easiest way to prevent this is to change your main DNS settings or to choose a VPN provider that has DNS leak protection.Another known vulnerability is WebRTC leaks. But this doesn't apply to your network admin/ISP monitoring. The website that you visit may know your real IP if you have webrtc leaks.
Can a network administrator see the sites I browse in private mode, and if yes, how can I prevent this?
I hope this explains all.All the requests for the websites your browser makes go through the proxy server / gateway that is managed by your network administrator. They may create logs for every page you open. Though some of the data is encrypted (passwords, emails etc); that is not dependent on the browser's private browsing mode. You might have noticed https written in front of some websites.SolutionYou can use techniques like VPN or web proxy for this. Websites like Hide My Ass! Free Proxy and Privacy Tools and tools like TOR (Anonymity Online) allow you to browse anonymously. However they're n't too safe and your web accounts are a little susceptible. But of course, they'll save you from your network administrators.
How does the police track VPN users?
Many people here say that “Police will just contact VPN company”. For the sake of example, do you really think an Indonesian VPN company will care if a UK police asks them to reveal anything? And what if you use multiple VPNs - Indonesian VPN - Afghan - Moroccan. Do you really think UK police will go through all of the companies and they will all agree to give the info? Even if they do, it would take police months if not years to get all the info because of all the bureaucracy. UK police can of course contact Indonesian police, but in many countries the local police does not even have departments which investigate cyber crimes yet (perfect countries for hackers), so it is possible that Indonesian police would not even be able to help the UK police. I think everything is not as simple as many people here say.
Is there any free Vpn service that is online?
I want it to operate similar to hamachi, except I don't want to have to download anything. I want to be able to host a lan world on minecraft and play with friends over the Internet. I also want to be able to share a folded that they can access. Same with them to me. If they host a lan world or share a folder, I want everybody connect to be able to access it. Is there such website? Ps I don't care if I have to download software on only one computer, I just don't want everybody to have to download that software.
Can an employer see all of your local network activity or just the device connected to their VPN?
Your employer, if they're using the right monitoring software can log every fucking keystroke you make, dude. They can also screencap your monitor at various intervals to see what you're actually looking at, run process monitors to see what you're actually running, deep packet inspection to pull actual data flows out of any VPN you're running....Get real. They paid for the laptop. They paid for the internal network. They paid for the ultra-broadband to their location. They're paying YOU to do something.They own it all. And legally, provided they inserted the right material in the employee handbook which you signed off on when you joined, have the right to do whatever they want with it.Don't like that?Quit. Become an independent contractor, supplying your own equipment. Pays about the same, and still won't necessarily get around some of the monitoring (most contractor agreements say "and if you're accessing our network, or anything we own, or anything else using anything we own, we get to monitor that") but it will kill the keylogging and screen-capping.I've run shops where we did this. It was a matter of making sure that very, very tight security policies were enforced, and most important, able to be audited. It's not my favorite way to do things - I'm natively more of a "of course you have admin on your laptop" kind of guy. But it has it's place. As to whether they can see everything else on your home LAN, that completely depends on the software they're using. Monitoring software that checks out it's environment (what else is on the network to which I'm connected) is pretty normal. Monitoring up to and including full capture of any traffic that accesses or transits your device is also pretty normal. Sniffing your wire to see what else is going on? That's pretty out there.