Wardriving !
Securing your wireless network.
Wardriving sounds
like something from the 1983 movie starring Matthew Broderick
and Ally Sheedy, “War Games”. However, wardriving is neither
fictitious nor illegal. This summer a group of 600 wardrivers
sniffed out 228,537 wireless networks in 40 states, 17 countries
and 4 continents in only 8 days. Wardrivers use laptops,
network detectors and GPS locators to search the air for
unprotected wireless computer networks. Wardriving itself is
not illegal, however accessing the unprotected
networks would be.
Bruce McClellan of Maryland
Computer Repair, recently spent 45 minutes driving through his
neighborhood near Laurel Maryland. He was able to locate over
100 wireless networks. Only about half of them were protected
with a unique SSID (a name that
identifies a network) and some kind of encryption.
Wi-Fi networks have soared in
popularity in recent years. Manufacturers make them very simple
to setup. Take a wireless router out of the box, plug it in to
your current cable modem or DSL modem and you are ready to go.
Unfortunately, without configuring some basic security settings
anyone else in the area can also connect to your network.
"People are so
excited to get the new technology and get it up and running,
they're not even thinking about security," says Brian Grim,
marketing director for the Wi-Fi Alliance, an industry group.
How to secure your wireless network.
Wireless networks
do not have the same physical security that wired networks
have. Wired networks are tied together with cables, wireless
networks use radio signals to connect the various components on
the network. The wireless signal travels through walls into
other rooms of the house, as well as right out through the wall
to the street and into your neighbor’s house.
“We recently ran
a service call for a client who reported that his wireless
connection had stopped working. After investigating the issue
it was determined that for the last 2 years he had actually been
accessing his neighbors wireless access point and not his own.
When his neighbor moved out, the access stopped. It is quite
common for someone to inadvertently connect to someone else’s
wireless connection, “ reports Bruce McClellan, owner and lead
technician for Maryland Computer Repair / Faster Digital, a
Maryland computer repair and service company.
So what can you
do to protect and secure your wireless network? McClellan has
the following suggestions.
1.
Change the SSID. The SSID is basically the name of the
network. Anyone who wants to hack into your network will know
the default names of each brand of wireless router. Use a name
that you can easily remember. However don’t use easily
identifiable names, such as your last name, business name,
address, phone number, or social security number. A combination
of numbers, letters, and other characters would be best.
2.
Disable SSID Broadcast. If you disable or turn off SSID
broadcasting most network scanners won’t see the network.
3.
Enable MAC address filtering. This will set up the
router to only allow your specific computers to connect to the
wireless network.
4.
Use Encryption. WEP is basic, has its flaws, but is
better than nothing. If you equipment will allow you to use WPA
you should use that.
McClellan, from
Maryland Computer Repair, says, “Each of these options are
pretty standard in all wireless home networking equipment.
Follow the instructions that came with the wireless router or
wireless network card. Most of these are simply checking the
appropriate checkboxes.”
Linksys, Broadcom,
NetGear, and D-Link are a few of the major wireless equipment
manufactures. Most of them are now beginning to incorporate
setup wizards that will make securing the wireless network
easier. If you are conerened about security and would rather
have a professional do it for you you can contact companies like
Maryland Computer Repair or Faster Digital who will set it up
for you at a very reasonable cost. Some of the major retailers
such as Geeks On Call, CompUsa, and Geek Squad can also do it
for you.
You can reach
Bruce at Maryland Computer Repair / Faster Digital at
800-556-5957. Visit
Maryland Computer Repairs website at
www.MarylandComputerRepair.com
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