Can a potential infected laptop infect via wi-fi

[Tio 0]

We are using  2 laptops that uses the normal version of Nod32 - paid version, very carefully surfing the internet. And a 3rd laptop which has eset nod32 provided by my cable provider, this laptop we use to stream movies , and going into some 18+ sites, all 3 are connected to the same wi-fi network. My question is if the 3rd laptop gets infected from some of the sites, could it be transmitted to the other 2 via the wi-fi

[Tio 0]

Sorry forgot to clarify, the nod32 that its on my laptop that I watch movies etc, is provided by my internet and tv provider for free (when you have a contract with them for 1-2 + years) 

[Nightowl 206]

Some kind of malware like Worms can spread through network from the infected PC

Sometimes if the PC is on different subnet and it's not possible for it to communicate to another subnet in the same network then it won't be able to spread because it's inside a different subnet other than the other devices for example.

If I am not mistaken , nod32 antivirus doesn't include network attack protection , it's only available in smart security and internet security

[itman 1,727]

Below is a screen shot showing what Eset protections are missing from NOD32:

https://www.eset.com/int/home/for-windows/

[Nightowl 206]

If there is an attack on your PC , it should be blocked by Windows Firewall , but looking at Windows Firewall logs it cannot really help you know if this is an attack or simply normal work of the firewall

ESET can help you more with this by telling you exactly how most probably you are being attacked, but if your antivirus isn't flagging/detecting things , most probably you are good

Add an adblocker like uBlock origin, can help you throw most of ads and pop-ups

Another example is , some routers now provide a Guest WIFI , mostly those WIFI networks , are made separated from the normal network , which devices in the GUEST WIFI cannot communicate with another devices in LAN or normal WIFI , and also possible to set it to prevent communications between devices inside the network.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Nightowl

[Tio 0]

2 hours ago, Nightowl said:

If there is an attack on your PC , it should be blocked by Windows Firewall , but looking at Windows Firewall logs it cannot really help you know if this is an attack or simply normal work of the firewall

ESET can help you more with this by telling you exactly how most probably you are being attacked, but if your antivirus isn't flagging/detecting things , most probably you are good

Add an adblocker like uBlock origin, can help you throw most of ads and pop-ups

Another example is , some routers now provide a Guest WIFI , mostly those WIFI networks , are made separated from the normal network , which devices in the GUEST WIFI cannot communicate with another devices in LAN or normal WIFI , and also possible to set it to prevent communications between devices inside the network.

All my laptops have ADP, for the time being i havent noticed anything,  lets say the worst happens and something malicious spread via wi-fi , will the in depth scan detect it? Since we are connected in the same network ( sorry maybe a noob question) 

My Windows Defender Firewall - Private network - not connected , Guest or public networks - connected o.O is it normal ? 

As for the guest WIFI, will still be using the same internet , but different network therefore even if its infected cannot spread to the other devices ? If i have wi-fi issues i usually call my internet provider and they change settings, passwords and so on

 

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by Tio

[Tio 0]

9 hours ago, itman said:

Below is a screen shot showing what Eset protections are missing from NOD32:

https://www.eset.com/int/home/for-windows/

They are a bit too expensive for me, since I have to buy for 3 laptops I was looking at the internet security to buy it for one laptop, for example if 2 have the normal NOD32 and the internet security, it should protect the wi-fi even if one of the other 2 gets infected and spreads it via the wi-fi , right ?

[Nightowl 206]

18 minutes ago, Tio said:

All my laptops have ADP, for the time being i havent noticed anything,  lets say the worst happens and something malicious spread via wi-fi , will the in depth scan detect it? Since we are connected in the same network ( sorry maybe a noob question) 

My Windows Defender Firewall - Private network - not connected , Guest or public networks - connected o.O is it normal ? 

As for the guest WIFI, will still be using the same internet , but different network therefore even if its infected cannot spread to the other devices ? If i have wi-fi issues i usually call my internet provider and they change settings, passwords and so on

 

 

 

 

 

Quote

A guest Wi-Fi network is essentially a separate access point on your router. All of your home devices are connected to one point and joined as a network, and the guest network is a different point that provides access to the Internet, but not to your home network. As the name suggests, it's for guests to connect to.Sep 17, 2018

 

Your ISP can do that changes if your router supports it for sure.

If your NOD32 isn't flagging anything and you are also scanning deep scan, and finding nothing , most probably you are safe , if you want to make sure , you can use windows defender manual scanning(not real time) to have a second opinion scanner or some other scanners like HitmanPro or RogueKiller which are second opinion scanners that can find something.

[Tio 0]

5 minutes ago, Nightowl said:

 

 

 

Your ISP can do that changes if your router supports it for sure.

If your NOD32 isn't flagging anything and you are also scanning deep scan, and finding nothing , most probably you are safe , if you want to make sure , you can use windows defender manual scanning(not real time) to have a second opinion scanner or some other scanners like HitmanPro or RogueKiller which are second opinion scanners that can find something.

Thank you very much for the input.

Just a little bit off topic , was looking yesterday at some of my options (the reason I started to fear about public wi-fi and so on) I found out at c:/users > public > public desktop files such as google chrome, what do they mean by public ? Everyone in my network or who are the public , I am the only one seeing what im browsing, right ? 

to the point where i ended up in " Computer management - shares and see this 

 

ADMIN$       - Remote admin and the others. 

Started to worry if every device that is connected to the network can share, browsing, monitoring etc. I dont mind for the other devices but the one that I watch movies. Thought this laptop might be able to see my activity and that led to my "fear" about the wi-fi thing. Sorry if the question is a dumb, im just a noob trying to find some answers

 

 

[Nightowl 206]

17 minutes ago, Tio said:

Thank you very much for the input.

Just a little bit off topic , was looking yesterday at some of my options (the reason I started to fear about public wi-fi and so on) I found out at c:/users > public > public desktop files such as google chrome, what do they mean by public ? Everyone in my network or who are the public , I am the only one seeing what im browsing, right ? 

to the point where i ended up in " Computer management - shares and see this 

 

ADMIN$       - Remote admin and the others. 

Started to worry if every device that is connected to the network can share, browsing, monitoring etc. I dont mind for the other devices but the one that I watch movies. Thought this laptop might be able to see my activity and that led to my "fear" about the wi-fi thing. Sorry if the question is a dumb, im just a noob trying to find some answers

 

 

I found the same question on Microsoft Forum : https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-to-stop-sharing-folder-for-windows-10/886a91aa-da0c-4d52-9895-56f2de9c6341

And about Public Desktop , it's if you have multiple users on the same computer , whatever you add to the Public Desktop will appear to every user's desktop in your PC

For example if you add a .TXT file to Public Desktop , it will on every user's desktop.

[peteyt 395]

1 hour ago, Tio said:

They are a bit too expensive for me, since I have to buy for 3 laptops I was looking at the internet security to buy it for one laptop, for example if 2 have the normal NOD32 and the internet security, it should protect the wi-fi even if one of the other 2 gets infected and spreads it via the wi-fi , right ?

You could always contact your local eset as often there's offers. Also you already have an Eset product so you might be able to get an upgrade discount

[Tio 0]

5 hours ago, Nightowl said:

I found the same question on Microsoft Forum : https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-to-stop-sharing-folder-for-windows-10/886a91aa-da0c-4d52-9895-56f2de9c6341

And about Public Desktop , it's if you have multiple users on the same computer , whatever you add to the Public Desktop will appear to every user's desktop in your PC

For example if you add a .TXT file to Public Desktop , it will on every user's desktop.

I see, so its only for the users as I am the only user with ID and password its fine , thank you very much !