The main way a hacker could do it in some households is social engineering. As the password is (in this case) written on the router then all they have to do is get access to the house (and that isn't particularly unusual if people aren't vigilant - perhaps someone knocks on the door and says they've just fallen off their bike and could they use the phone - you let them in and offer them a drink - whilst you are making a drink they are "using" the phone which in many houses just happens to be next to the router).

Programmes like the Real Hustle show how easy it is to get conned. Personally I would leave no router at the default password for WiFi or the admin interface. Especially BT hubs that helpfully print both passwords on the router and on a handy card that most people probably don't even realise is in the back of the router.

Just yesterday the BBC were doing more coverage about peoples smart devices and how insecure they can be if you don't take the proper precautions.

That does seem rather extreme to me personally, but I know it does happen.

There are many potential ways to hack but some don't require any real technical skill but just some cajonas.

What is even more frightening is the number of kids toys that have bluetooth and can be hacked to do things like recording speech or video. There is also the potential that if those toys connect to the wifi then they can potentially be hacked to get the wifi password from them - and that can be trivial to do because the security is so poor.

There is the case of loads of web cams that were linked to from a russian web site because the default password hadn't been changed. Plus the routers that were used as a botnet because malicious software was uploaded to them - again, they had the default admin password.

I know the chances of it happening to an individual are low. But the chances of it happening to someone is 100% (and happens on a daily basis) - having proper security on devices and complex passwords helps to assure that the someone it happens to is not you.

Anything connected to the Internet should be properly secured.

My DSL password is one that I chose. It is the same as the one that I use to access the web member centre.

You might be able to get them to send you a password by following the 'forgotton your password' link on the member centre login web page. If that fails, likely you will have to call them.

Thanks. It was the member centre password that worked.