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Welcome To
The Better Systems Podcast!
 
April 24, 2010 Show Notes (PodcastIT012):
"How do I secure my wireless network?"
There are several things that you need to do to secure your wireless
network (also known as WI-FI). First you need to make sure you can
access your WI-FI setup. Check with your wireless manual as to how
to do this.
First, look at your settings for wireless encryption. If your
settings are for W E P, you need to change it to something more
secure. W P A 2 is best. If you don't have that setting, then use W
P A. Also, use the AES as the WPA algorithm where possible as it is
the strongest over any other. WEP security is easy hackable with
software and can allow people to access your network or internet
access. Did you know that you are legally liable for what traffic is
routed through your internet access? So, if someone can hack into
your system, and then use it to perform illegal activity, then you
are the one on the record books as allowing access - whether or not
you approved it. So, this can be a serious matter.
The next item is to disable your S S I D Broadcast. While you would
normally leave it on to find your internet wireless access point,
leaving it on after you need it is inviting people to hack into your
system. There are wardriver software available where unscrupulous
people can drive around and just look for unsecure wireless
networks, and then hack into the computers on that network, or use
their internet connection for malicious activity. Though the more
proficient person doing this can still access a system that has the
SSID Broadcast disabled, they would have to work a lot harder.
Next, update your WI-FI firmware. Any vulnerabilities that are
discovered can be fixed with the firmware upgrade provided by your
hardware manufacturer and are normally automated and simple to do.
Next, your WI-FI settings should have security features build in.
Make sure that they are turned on so that anonymous internet
requests will be blocked. You would how may WI-FI systems come with
the default for this setting to be turned Off!
Next, we suggest changing your password default. Yes, some people
actually leave the password as what was set when they received it.
Something like the word "Password" itself, or leaving the password
blank, is just asking for trouble! Also, do not use a word found in
a dictionary as a password as all a malicious person would have to
do is run dictionary subroutine with their wardriver software to
break into your system.
Finally, when connecting to your WI-FI setup, ensure that you have a
secure connection using https. This means that your username and
password are encrypted when trying to log in.
Better Systems Tech Tips: If you have a wireless network and
you do not have these six items changed to reflect a more secure
system, please take the time to change them as soon as possible! If
you do not know how to do this, please contact a trusted IT
Professional like those at Houston Outsource, IT Solutions. You will
be glad that you did!
Check Out Our Other Show Notes!
My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-c744dad21fa26dc837ce88662dc12dff}
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