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Securing your Wireless Network
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Securing your Wireless Network
When one thinks about home security, they ususally think of taking measures like installing alarms, deadbolts, and window locking devices. But if you have a wireless computer network like many American homes, your personal data (credit card numbers and banking information) could be open to hackers.
When you first purchase and turn on your wireless router, the router manufacturer makes it dead simple to connect your wireless devices. Out of the box, your wireless router is unsecured. Given that most wireless routers have a range of around 100 feet, if your neighbours have wireless devices, they can connect just as easy as you can. Even worse, hackers can drive past your house with a $29 wireless network detector and discover and connect to your unsecured network!
The good news is that you can perform 4 very basic steps to secure your wireless network and prevent hackers from gaining access to your data. You will need to consult the manual for your wireless router to perform the actual tasks described here.
1. Reset the Router's Password
There are only a handful of wireless router manufacturers and each one uses a common default password. Linksys uses '1234' and Netgear uses 'password'. Any hacker will try these passwords first to gain access to your network. So change the password to prevent hackers from accessing your data.
2. Turn off SSID Broadcasting
Your wireless network needs to have a unique name to distinguish it from other wireless networks. The Service Set IDentifier is always set to broadcast by default. Once again this is done to make it easy to connect to your wireless network for the first time. By broadcasting the SSID, you are making it easy for hackers to connect to your network. So consult your users manual and find out how to change your SSID to a unique name, and turn off the SSID Broadcast feature.
3. Enable WEP Encryption
Wireless Encryption Protocol (WEP) is a technology that will encrypt all traffic that goes over your wireless network. By default, your router will have WEP turned off, meaning that all of your personal data is transfered across you wireless network in plain text. Once again, this is an easy target for even the most inexperienced hacker. Enabling WEP is very easy, and should be enabled as soon as you possibly can.
4. Setup a MAC Address Filter
Finally the most advanced tip offered here is to setup MAC address filtering. Every computer wireless adapter has a unique id called a MAC Address. You can tell your router to only allow access to devices with a particular MAC address. This is probably the most effective step you can take to secure you wireless network.
CHECKING COMPUTER SECURITY
Many people wonder whether or not their computer is secure. They fear that someone might be looking through their files, copying, altering, or erasing them. They are uneasy about the thought that someone might be monitoring their every move in cyberspace. These concerns come to mind when reminded of the problem of hackers, viruses, and other security risks that abound in the Internet. Fortunately it’s easy to prevent these problems by following a few simple tips.
Update
Perhaps the most important step for computer security is to keep it updated. Install the latest critical updates and service packs from Microsoft's download center. This is made easy by configuring the system to utilize Automatic Updates, if available. If not, updates can be downloaded directly from Microsoft's download center. Currently, Service Pack 2 (SP2) is the most current Service Pack for Windows XP.
Firewall
The easiest way to increase the security level of a computer is by using a firewall. Firewalls monitor all activity that occurs on a connection between one or more computers. They act as a “wall” with one or more computers on one side, and one or more computers (usually the Internet) on the other. Information transfer by suspicious programs are immediately cut off, preventing them from entering the protected side of the firewall. This way denying access to anything coming from unauthorized and unknown sources prevents possible infection by viruses, worms, and other malicious codes.
Anti-Virus and Anti Spy-ware
Even if a computer is protected by a firewall it is still necessary to use anti-virus and anti spy-ware. This is because a firewall only prevents unauthorized outside access, and cannot distinguish between malicious and benign access. It is still possible to inadvertently make a request for information that is harmful, which the firewall views as an authorized transfer. Anti-virus and anti spy-ware provides another layer of armor for a computer, making it harder for hackers and their malicious programs to penetrate and control a computer. Some well-known anti-virus programs include Norton, Trend Micro PC-cillin, and McAffee. Anti spy-ware programs are also important as they reduce the chances of spy-ware getting into a computer. Spy-ware behaves differently than viruses, making it necessary to use different programs to catch it. Spy-ware can monitor any activity a computer infected with it performs, or even act as a gateway to download additional spy-ware or viruses. Hackers typically use spy-ware to obtain important information that must remain confidential like credit card numbers, social security numbers, and police records.
Protect Home Networks
It is possible for a computer owner to be unaware they are using a network at home. If more than one computer shares the same Internet connection or if wireless Internet access is being used, a home network is present. Securing a single computer is not much use if it is part of a network. The whole network must be protected as well to prevent malicious software from simply hopping from computer to computer to avoid attack. Different kinds of home networks face different kinds of risks. In the case of a wireless connection, anyone within the broadcast range of the network may be able to look at any data contained within the network.
Most networking devices employ their own security mechanisms. Using this in combination with security defenses installed on each computer's should provide enough protection to thwart attempts from hackers to hi-jack the network and use the computers connected to it. Most routers function as Network Address Translators (NAT) which makes them a safe connection to the Internet.
While no measure can guarantee total immunity from attack, these steps should increase the security of a computer or network enough to protect against any typical attack.
Computer Security Against Data Loss And Identity Theft
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Computer Security Against Data Loss And Identity Theft
This week I was going to write about upgrading system RAM but while watching the news I saw the story about Hotels.com and their data theft. Last weeks big story was the data lose at the Veterans Administration. NOW .. to be clear, these were not computer security breeches but people actually carrying the data out on disk. But the point is data is valuable and this leads to computer security
This past week alone we had 5 machines that were so loaded with spyware the machines literally stalled and were unusable. Now, knowing how low the response is when we run spyware ads I know many of you are not listening. Then, when you head to the repair shop it is already too late. Add to this the cost of the repair /clean out which usually costs many times is more then the actual machine is worth.
If ever there was a case for the fabled "ounce of prevention" this is it. Anyway identity theft is the fastest growing, most damaging and expensive crime we have today. It can take up to a year to detect and by then the damage can be extensive, but with a few simple steps you can avoid it. The problem is getting you to take those steps so I'll go over them again.
Before you go near the Internet your computer needs three types of software, first, a good anti-virus program. We recommend products like Norton Anti-virus, Trend Micro and if you are looking for a good freebie, get AVG. Now if one is good two should be better right ... wrong. This not true with virus software. Very often they will conflict and cause system performance issues.
Next you need a firewall, if nothing else use the built in Windows firewall that comes with XP Sp2, if you have an earlier version then you seriously need to run Windows updates. This is not just for the firewall but you are missing a large collection of security updates. Finally, you need a spyware scanner and you need two of these, one pro-active (scanning threats as they come in) and one that is reactive (scans for threats that are let in by hiding in something else). This is especially true if you use Yahoo, MSN, or Google search bars.
Also AOL is one of the biggest offenders when it comes to collecting and selling info on their subscribers. But they hide it well by keeping you focused on the competitors spyware they are removing. You also need two spyware scanners because neither will get all the threats and one will get what the other missed. We recommend Pest Patrol and Ad Aware. Avoid Spybot at all costs. This is just a spyware suite disguised as a scanner. Well there you have it, again. The Internet is a safe place if you take the proper precautions.
