Oh No – You Mean My Wireless Home Network is At Risk?
If you are like me, you were too lazy to run network wiring in your house when you moved in. You have a computer, kids have computers, spouse has a computer. Cripes, these days even the dog has his own computer. So what to do about all of these connectivity issues? In my last house, I took the time to run network cabling so that there were data jacks everywhere. I thought we would need them – even in the kitchen (I’m such a geek!). Well, never again. The wireless age is here, and that was just too much work. I guess it is time to finally get with the program and make all my computers wireless. All my neighbors have: From where I sit in my office on the second floor of my house, I can see at least five networks from here. I wanna be wireless too. That way I can be like those cool yuppies, and sit on the deck with my suntan lotion, a cool frappuccino, and my laptop – surfin’ the Internet and checkin’ stock quotes.
So now that my wireless network is all set up, no worries, right? I mean so what if someone in the ‘hood steals a little of my signal, connects to my network and surfs for themselves. The cable company won’t know and the bandwidth they steal probably won’t affect me! Well – here’s the deal with that: If anyone can get on your network and surf the web, then that means that they can also get to the files on your computer(s) if they are smart enough – and these days it doesn’t take much to hack into an unprotected system. They are completely bypassing your firewall and they are now on the inside. Inside and free to get to all of your personal information, tax records, personal letters, email files, you name it.
Wireless security is such a big deal these days because everyone is setting one up. Let’s face it, setting up a wireless network in your home or small office is waaaay easier than running network cabling and making all that mess. But they key thing to remember is that your network traffic is now traveling over free space. Anyone with a laptop and some wireless sniffer software can eaves-drop on you and steal your signal, your data, or hack into your computer.
The subject of wireless security is far more involved than I can write in this little blog. I thought it worthy of a full-page article on my main web site. Check it out – I think there may be a few tips you can use to make your new wireless network more secure. There's a lot more to consider than you would think - and many creative ways to help keep the bad guys out.
Read The Full Article
So now that my wireless network is all set up, no worries, right? I mean so what if someone in the ‘hood steals a little of my signal, connects to my network and surfs for themselves. The cable company won’t know and the bandwidth they steal probably won’t affect me! Well – here’s the deal with that: If anyone can get on your network and surf the web, then that means that they can also get to the files on your computer(s) if they are smart enough – and these days it doesn’t take much to hack into an unprotected system. They are completely bypassing your firewall and they are now on the inside. Inside and free to get to all of your personal information, tax records, personal letters, email files, you name it.
Wireless security is such a big deal these days because everyone is setting one up. Let’s face it, setting up a wireless network in your home or small office is waaaay easier than running network cabling and making all that mess. But they key thing to remember is that your network traffic is now traveling over free space. Anyone with a laptop and some wireless sniffer software can eaves-drop on you and steal your signal, your data, or hack into your computer.
The subject of wireless security is far more involved than I can write in this little blog. I thought it worthy of a full-page article on my main web site. Check it out – I think there may be a few tips you can use to make your new wireless network more secure. There's a lot more to consider than you would think - and many creative ways to help keep the bad guys out.
Read The Full Article
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