Tapping phone of apartment next door

[DeadLily]

On a Mac discussion board, I discussed how my next door apartment neighbors have aparently broken into my Mac and examined the hard drives. This, in spite of having a router Firewall, and filesharing turned off. The possbility that they had "spliced" into my phone line came up. This seems likely, but I can't really pursue that discussion on that board. I don't know where else to ask, so I throw it out here. If you've tapped someone's DSL line, what exactly can you do with that, as far as hacking into someone's computer?

[Supreme2k]

DSL is not really for networking. It lets you access the internet (with the right modem), but does not become a network.

Make sure that you have any type of remote access turned off. Check what ports are open on the router, and that you're not broadcasting to everyone.

You could simply call your service provider with your concern. I had a neighbor who had that done to them, so they called the provider, then the cops.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

...my next door apartment neighbors have aparently broken into my Mac and examined the hard drives...

If you call your ISP or the police you will bear the burden of proof.

[Supreme2k]

Actually, I just meant that *if* he finds out that they are indeed splicing in. That's an actual physical connection, so it's easy to prove/discover.

The other thing is that most DSL lines are carried on the phone lines, so you need filters for your phone. If they are spliced into your DSL, they're tapping your phone.

Most (if not all) dsl lines also need a modem and a login (username/password). Simply tapping tapping into the line will get them nothing but your phone.

For more info, go here:
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs9-wrtp.htm#wt1

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

Is your DSL router a wireless router?. Do you have your connection encrypted?.

[offline]

I'm thinking that way of hacking would be very rare for a number of reasons - too messy, over complex and way too much evidence would be generated, so the risk of getting caught would be high.

Perhaps try an isolation test - unplug everything from your phone line (including filters, phones..etc) and then call your ISP on the pretext that you were hearing noise on the line. They should then be able to tell you if any other device is still connected on your line, even if it is behind a central filter or an MDF.