DO YOU have or plan to install a wireless network in your home? If so, do you know that someone can use your Internet connection without your knowledge or approval?
Anyone can drive through a residential neighbourhood with a wireless-enabled laptop. If your wireless router is not configured for secure communications, the intruder’s laptop can detect the signal and access the Internet using your Internet connection.
The intruder can read your chats, know what sites you visit, steal your identity, copy something to your computer in the form of viruses, worms, spam or pornographic material, use your Internet bandwidth (and inflate your Internet access bill) and even access sensitive information on your computer. Scary, right?
If you have a wireless router, you can protect yourself using these tips:
1 Router placement
Try to place the router in the centre of your home. This lets you connect from anywhere in your home and ensures that you are broadcasting fewer signals outside your home boundary.
2 Router password
When you buy a wireless router, it comes with a factory-enabled password, which is known to everyone else who buys a router. Change the password and do not enter common passwords such as names of children or partners.
3 Disable SSID
Routers come with a factory given name, known as the SSID (service set identifier), and most people change the name to reflect their identity or to something that is easy to read, such as “myhome-wireless”. A good practice is to disable the SSID broadcast via the router administration pages. When you disable the SSID broadcast, make sure you key in the name in your wireless configuration on your operating system.
4 Add a filter
Maintain a list of authorised visitors who can connect to your wireless device. Every wireless network card has a unique identification called MAC (media access control) ID. You can right-click on your network card properties and read this ID. To secure your wireless network, configure your router to allow connection to your MAC ID only. If you have multiple machines, you can add multiple MAC IDs.
5 Limit the connection lines
Many people can connect to your router at the same time. You can limit the connection to one if you are the only one who uses the router. This combat becomes especially effective if you switch off your router when it’s not in use.
6 Enable security
Before you activate specific security settings on your wireless router, let’s understand basic security architecture. When you send data from your laptop, the data is encrypted by a key before it travels freely on a wireless network. On the other side, a wireless router will receive this packet and decrypt it using the same key.
Now, in the simplest setup, the keys are the same and this kind of security arrangement is known as WEP (wired equivalent privacy). WEP can be broken using easily available tools which listen to wireless traffic and build the key within a few hours.
If you can use more keys and if the keys are changed periodically, it will be difficult for anyone to break into your wireless network. Newer standards like WPA (WiFi Protected Access) work on such principles to generate larger keys and change the keys frequently.
To use WPA, you may need a firmware update for your older access point or wireless router, and new driver (and maybe firmware) for each wireless adapter on your network.
Note that manufacturers may not offer WPA upgrades for all their products, especially older products. Ensure that you buy WPA-certified wireless devices.
Not all operating systems understand the WPA mechanism of key changes. You have to go for Windows XP or above if you looking at built-in support. For other operating systems, you may have to download additional software.
ASHISH KUMAR
The writer is the senior IT manager at Microsoft Operations.
