Computers still "On" while being off

[thatguyyouknow75]

When computers are off, I am aware that there are programs that can remotely turn them back on. I can also remember a CIS professor telling us to always unplug ethernet when we go to bed because people are able to access our files even though our system may be off. Does this mean that as long as there is power to the computer, it is always running on some level? how can the computer communicate with others if the proccessor isnt processing, or is it always?

[refinedskillz]

Just turn off the PSU/unplug it.

[Guest]

Just turn off the PSU/unplug it.

It can go a lot deeper than that

[thatguyyouknow75]

Just turn off the PSU/unplug it.

 

 

It can go a lot deeper than that

Im not worried about my stuff, my credit card is safe and people can have pictures of my dogs for all i care, but how is this possible? Is this something allowed by the OS? what exchange of code or information makes this happen when it should be off?

[Guest]

Im not worried about my stuff, my credit card is safe and people can have pictures of my dogs for all i care, but how is this possible? Is this something allowed by the OS? what exchange of code or information makes this happen when it should be off?

I mean personally myself I don't know that much of how this works, for all I know there could be ten different working ways and it also depends on the situation as well, maybe someone from the forum can go into detail with this 

 

Like I'm not even sure what is required and what isn't for a situation like this, it comes down to possibilities 

[thatguyyouknow75]

I mean personally myself I don't know that much of how this works, for all I know there could be ten different working ways and it also depends on the situation as well, maybe someone from the forum can go into detail with this 

thats what im hoping for Unfortunately i seem to have posted when there arent many active users

[refinedskillz]

I mean personally myself I don't know that much of how this works, for all I know there could be ten different working ways and it also depends on the situation as well, maybe someone from the forum can go into detail with this 

Surely if you have a hard drive there won't be enough power for it to spin up and people to read data off of it

[Guest]

Surely if you have a hard drive there won't be enough power for it to spin up and people to read data off of it

Again, I don't know this stuff but an idea or possibility off the top of my head would be something like wireless charging and power

[thatguyyouknow75]

Surely if you have a hard drive there won't be enough power for it to spin up and people to read data off of it

exactly! so how can computers be started remotely?

[Guest]

exactly! so how can computers be started remotely?

BIOS setting, I forgot what it's called but it's something with an ethernet connection that can work over a network

[ApolloX75]

exactly! so how can computers be started remotely?

There's a function in the BIOS called "Wake-ON-LAN." It allows a computer to be remotely booted up via the onboard NIC with the right commands and access. Usually this is restricted to the local network but it is possible to gain access from the outside.

 

Schools and businesses use the Wake function to perform mass software updates during downtime for instance.

[Guest]

There's a function in the BIOS called "Wake-ON-LAN." It allows a computer to be remotely booted up via the onboard NIC with the right commands and access. Usually this is restricted to the local network but it is possible to gain access from the outside.

 

Schools and businesses use the Wake function to perform mass software updates during downtime for instance.

Being able to have control and power like that, that is why I love networking even though I'm shit at it D:

[ApolloX75]

Being able to have control and power like that, that is why I love networking even though I'm shit at it D:

lol well to be fair, it's not a function that is easily enabled. From my experience it has to be enabled by an operator straight from the BIOS, there are no windows-based BIOS utilities (that I've seen anyways) that allow access to those particular functions. So really the most vulnerable to this kind of thing would be schools or businesses where these settings are guaranteed to be enabled.

 

I do remember when I worked with a school IT tech for a few months we had a program that was built to access all computers on the school network using a specific network adapter. This made it so any computer with that exact card installed could be accessed directly no matter what. It was super cool.

[agent_x007]

When computers are off, I am aware that there are programs that can remotely turn them back on. I can also remember a CIS professor telling us to always unplug ethernet when we go to bed because people are able to access our files even though our system may be off. Does this mean that as long as there is power to the computer, it is always running on some level? how can the computer communicate with others if the proccessor isnt processing, or is it always?

U can't access data on HDD/SSD if it's powered down (no power = no way to transmit/receive data).
IF Wake-On LAN fuction is Enabled in BIOS, and IF somehow some will remotely power on your PC, and IF U will have shared folders on that computer (with global privileges [ie. everyone on network can access it]), that's the only folder intruder can access (in theory, I assume U don't have a virus/trojan/worm that can manipulate settings on that PC direcly).

So your proffessor was right to an extent, but fact is : U can't access data on switched off hard drive (without switching it on again).

[fishymamba]

I've been trying to figure out why my computer turns on randomly at night sometimes. I always unplug it before sleeping now.