In this article, I would like to highlight a technology found in many corporate environments that most people are not aware of called Wake-On-Lan. It allows a pc that is powered down but connected to the network with an ethernet cable (or in some cases a Wi-Fi connection) to be remotely powered on. The existence of this technology gives us some security best practices on home networks.
This technology exists in the network interface card / network adaptor and in the motherboard of your pc. So essentially a PC, regardless of its operating system, which is powered down but connected to the network can receive a special signal called a ‘magic packet’ which signals the computer to power back up.
This can be a useful and legitimate tool to manage an organization’s computers to ensure that PCs are powered up in order to receive software updates.
However, you may be able to see how this specific technology or custom developed technology with this capability could potentially be used as a means of compromising a computer and exfiltrating data on already compromised computers. Most people would assume that a PC which has been powered down is secure.
Best practices for a high security home network would be to turn off Wi-Fi, disable Bluetooth, and disconnect your ethernet cable to your computer when not in use. Removing a device from all network connections in this manner is also known as an ‘air gapping’. Hacking an air gapped pc is much more difficult than one connected to the network.
References:
Wikipedia Contributors. (2025, January 29). Wake-on-LAN. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN
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