Who Else Is Using Your Wireless Network?

When researching information for important projects, always cross check your work with multiple sources to ensure you receive a diverse selection of information on the subject matter. We do our best to ensure the content contained on this site is as accurate as possible, however things like statistics and time sensitive material may become outdated rather quickly. So if your research is for a school project or term paper, or any other reason that requires complete correctness the Ez Submit website's Security category and the Who Else Is Using Your Wireless Network? article is a great place to start due to our volume of information and broad range of resources, however "always" cross check facts and opinions to ensure corectness.

Ez Submit is dedicated to providing reviews, learning materials, answers to questions, home work help, articles, assignment resources and we pride ourselves on offering a diverse resource completely free.. Because everyone loves free stuff, myself included. So, with that said i hope we helped you in your research and if so feel free to bookmark us and come back again!

Although it is relatively easy for SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) and house users to set up their own Wireless networks, the default settings on a WAP (Wireless Access Point) usually come with no security configured.

As a result, if you leave these settings as they are, then this WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) you are creating can leave you open to hackers who want to compromise your computer and/or steal information from it.

As a result it is essential that you take the necessary steps to secure your Wireless network.

Why do you need wireless security?

In a traditional wired network you need to have physical access to the network. You either need access to a cable that is already connected to the LAN, or be able to attach a cable to say a patch panel or switch port that will create a new physical connection for you.

With a wireless network, however, you have a radio signal that permeates the very air around us. Because of the broadcast nature of WLANs, it is far easier to access this sort of network, especially when the signal is usually powerful enough to emanate outside of a building and so potentially provide network access to those outside.

Another benefit of a cabled network is that the transfer of data between computers remains within the wires themselves. Contrast this with a Wireless network, in which the data is now easier to intercept and/or corrupt.

As a result you need to secure your wireless network in the following ways:
- Request user authentication to prevent unauthorized access to your network.
- Use data privacy to protect the integrity and privacy of the data being transmitted.

How do you secure your Wireless network?

1. Change the SSID
When you configure your WAP change the default SSID (Service Set IDentifier). Do not pick something that easily identifies you, like your name, street address, etc. Instead pick something complicated that is difficult to guess and is made up of a mixture of letters and numbers e.g. m6jvUm9mHuQfA4h5tgCH

2. Disable SSID broadcasting
In addition, make sure your WAP is not configured to broadcast your SSID. Although this is not a secure method of protecting your network, it does mean your WLAN is not so openly available to intrusion.

3. Configure WPA or WPA2
To authorize access to your Wireless network you should choose a security setting of WPA-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access Pre-Shared Key) or better yet WPA2-PSK if available.

Although Windows XP supports both of these security methods, you still need a wireless adapter that supports WPA as well.

NOTE: WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is the earlier attempt to secure wireless connections and it is not secure enough. If this is all your WPA has to offer then you should either upgrade the firmware on it, if this will then give you WPA, or purchase a newer device.

You also need to choose a password for WPA-PSK. Like your SSID, this too needs to be complicated and so not easy to guess.

4. Restrict access based on MAC authentication
Your wireless network adapter has a physical address called a MAC (Media Access Control) address. You can take advantage of this by configuring your WAP to only allow access to those MAC addresses you want to give access to your network and so restrict which computers can get connected.
Although a MAC address can still be spoofed, this is yet another obstacle to deter the casual hacker.

5. Change the administrator account/password
Your WAP will come with a standard administrator account and password. So anyone who has bought the same device will know what these are.
Change the password to one that is not easy to guess and if possible change the name of the administrator account as well.

Summary

A Wireless network is a great way to get Internet access without having to lay down cabling, but out of the box these are completely insecure.

With the threat of hackers, viruses and spyware unlikely to go away you must secure your Wireless network if you want to keep your computer and the data on it safe.

Follow the 5 recommendations above and you can enjoy being able to surf the Internet in safety.

Ez Submit: http://www.ez-submit.net

The article above titled Who Else Is Using Your Wireless Network? may be published on your website, simply use the RSS link below to obtain the URL to paste in to your site. Ez Submit is an article repository housing nearly 45,000 different articles on various subjects, so feel free to browse around for other quality articles.

Information is a valuable commodity, reading and learning from such resources helps to obtain a better understanding on the Security topic. With an understanding, you are able to make informed decisions.

We have also located 10 other articles related to this one, so we have listed them below along with this weeks hottest sections, so if Who Else Is Using Your Wireless Network? didn't suit what you were looking for or if you have more questions check out the menu links below to browse around. Also our Business and Home Business sections have been mentioned in official offline school resources for Business Study papers, so these are worth checking out as well as the Security you are currently viewing.

Want Security Articles delivered Via RSS? Simply click the XML icon above

You are currently viewing articles from - Home | Computers | Security

You may also find these categories of interest: Medicine - Travel - Outdoors - Stock Market - Business - Finance - Business Opportunities and Diseases

Children and Spyware - By :
The Advancement of the Keylogger - By :
Thwart the Three Biggest Internet Threats of 2007 - By :
Waiting Could Be Devastating, Protect Your Data - By :
Take Control Of Your Child's Internet Activity: Online Parental Control Tips & Suggestions - By :
Porn Surfing Teacher Provides Lesson on Importance of Spyware Protection - By :
Phishing - How to Avoid Getting Caught - By :
Companies Need to Protect Their Computers - By :
Don't Steal My Information! - By :
Computer Security Ethics and Privacy - By :

Feel free to view the articles listed above, we found them similar to Who Else Is Using Your Wireless Network? so they may also interest you, some are in the Security category or other subcategories.

We have thousands of pages of information on diverse topics, select a category to view what we have to offer!

Ezine Ready