Using strong passwords is the best way to keep from getting hacked.  I use passwordsafe for all my passwords these days.  Generate passwords at least 20+ characters/numbers/symbols/etc long to be of any decent difficulty to crack.

http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net/

Also, as suggested, picking a different port number on your router that fowards to 5001 is a good idea too.  This way it is not on an obvious Slingbox default port number. 

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved with the same level of thinking that created them." -- Albert Einstein

I was thinking about this myself. I could run angry IP scanner and search a large range of IP's with port 5001 open. It's pretty easy to do that using the program "angry ip scanner" and setting the timeout down to 20ms.

Once I get a list of IP's then I will use brutus-ae to try a password crack first. If that fails then I will setup brutus-ae for a brute force crack. I can open up 10 sockets at a time which should make this go faster. With a password file, I'll try the standard set of passwords like password, sling, slingbox, boxsling, box, myslingbox... I'm sure you get the point.

Remember that strong passwords are a good idea for all password restricted items. I would recommend a minimum of 8 characters, upper/lower case, numbers, and special symbols. Try to make it unique. Don't try and be clever by using P@$$w0rd. These are the types of passwords that are cracked quickly. I would recommend a mnemonic like TTl*h1wWuR. That password is "Twinkle Twinkle little * how 1 wonder What u R". Another thing you can do is try keyboard patterns like QWASZX_)POLK,m. If you look at your keyboard, you will notice that I went from from top to bottom on the left and right sides of the keyboard. Remember, this is a challenge to some people. They are not trying to be malicious, they just want to see if they can do it. Don't write them down and never give your password to someone else.

This is just the right type of challenge that computer hackers like doing.

I hope this helps people understand the principles behind strong passwords and the need for them. Good Luck. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to shoot me an email at orfguy@gmail.com.

Enjoy!

opq said: So I haven't used my slingbox for a week or so now but when I tried to log on today I was told that someone by the name "VIVIAN-LU\VIVIAN LU" from IP address 67.183.50.52 was logged on (IP belongs to AT&T in Everett, Washington). I do not know this person the only way she would have gained access is if she managed to discover our Slingbox password. Only 2 people have this password in our family and we don't even know her, so is there any way she brute-forced into our Slingbox? I have already changed the passwords for safety, but what if this happens again?

Do you have a wireless router at yout Slingbox location that the security might be open? Also, make sure you're doing all of the security updates if on XP or Vista and don't allow remote desktop via MSN Messenger, etc.

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