Is your Wireless Secure?

December 10, 2015 10:36 pm

“Going” wireless usually requires connecting to the internet through a wireless router of some sort.  Then the signal is sent to a device through the air sometimes as far as several hundred feet away.  Any device, whether it is a laptop, smartphone, or tablet can pull that signal from the air and access the internet.  That means anyone nearby can “piggyback” onto your network and access your information unless you take the right precautions.  Let’s look at some basic steps for you to protect your home or business network from intruders.

  • Password Encryption – Leaving your router open without a password is like inviting intruders to use your bandwidth and access your information. Wireless routers often come out of the box with the encryption feature disabled, so be sure to check that encryption is turned on shortly after you or your broadband provider installs the router. To turn on encryption, you will need to pick a wireless network password. Longer passwords that utilize a combination of letters, numbers and symbols are more secure. If there is a default password be sure to change it immediately.
  • Limit Access – Allow only specific devices to access your wireless network. Every device that is able to communicate with a network is assigned a unique Media Access Control (MAC) address. Wireless routers usually have a mechanism to allow only devices with particular MAC addresses to access to the network. Some hackers have mimicked MAC addresses, so don’t rely on this step alone.
  • Get Network Monitoring – There are several apps out there that can monitor to see if unwanted visitors are using your network.  They can report information such as hostnames, IP addresses, MAC addresses, and more. If there is any information you don’t recognize, you can investigate and find out if someone or something is on your network that shouldn’t be.
  • Secure the Router – Several steps can be taken to secure the actual router including: changing the name of the router, changing any pre-set password, turn off remote features, keep your router up-to-date and logout as admin so no one can piggyback on your session.

Categorised in: ,