Help Net Security reminds us today of the dangers of wireless networks. Ethical hacker Jason Hart’s British experiment on wireless networks found that almost 25% were not secured with any sort of password or encryption.
It’s easy to stop by your local computer store, buy a wireless router, hook it up to your home high-speed Internet connection, and start surfing the web from your recliner. If you don’t go through the process of setting up the security, though, anyone driving by your house can gain access.
If your have never set up your home wireless router to be secure, take the time to do it. If you don’t know how, call your computer geek friend and ask for their help. If they’re a true computer geek (like I am) they will understand the importance of security and come help you out. If they don’t think security is important, let me know, and I’ll revoke their computer geek status.
I could go on for hours about this subject, but I’m slightly drunk, so I could go on for hours about just about anything. Be careful about what security you set up… simply setting up a password and simple security is probably enough to deter someone who’s simply scanning for open networks. However, if you are in a high-traffic area, a determined person (with nearly no expertise) can download an app that can crack a lot of the wireless encryption standards out there, and then spoof an allowed MAC address to get in. It’s disturbingly simple. So, protect anything with access to that wireless network, and try to firewall your LAN from your WAN. Or just drink another Guinness and go to bed and don’t worry about it.
Speaking of computer geek friends, hey James! Good insight. It’s also noteworthy that, in lieu of paying your computer geek friends for their help, most will be more than willing to accept some Guinness as payment.