Sniffing Network Traffic Question

[PeterGriffin]

Is there a way to sniff the traffic around your neighborhood if you are on a cable modem?

I always heard this was possible so I gave it a try and it didn't work. I am behind a firewall and I'm using ethereal for a sniffer.

I'm not trying to hack or anything, I'm just curious and these sorta things.

Can someone help me please.

[SKI]

You'd have to hack your cable modem at the very least. I haven't done the research, but even then what you're trying probably won't work. The information you're referring to is outdated: this security problem has long since been addressed. There was a time when you could essentially just hook up & see everyone else in a shared cable Internet environment right in network neighborhood (unless they had secured their computers)... long past. ISPs have since changed the the way in which they handle their bandwidth sharing, FWIW.

As an aside to people who travel with laptops and use hotels with broadband Internet access: ALWAYS run a S/W firewall at minimum, and take the usual steps to restrict access to you computer that you would use on any unsecured network. I have personal experience of finding hotels where I could see other rigs on the LAN... some people had their digital pants around their ankles: full access without so much as a password. Consider yourselves warned.

I must say that whether you're "hacking" or "curious", you're still trying to access other peoples activities. Discovering ability and means is one thing: reading other peoples data is another...