Wireless networking can be kind of scary from a security standpoint. It opens up whole new attack vectors from wifi hackers that were not present with wired network infrastructures. That doesnt mean you cant do it securely Manolo Gabbiadini Italy Jersey , however, and I aim to give you some ideas that can help you cover your wifi network from getting hacked.
As always, you must exercise some common sense when reading through a list of security tips like this (Look who youre dealing with: How to hack a wifi network). You have to determine what options apply to you Luca Antonelli Italy Jersey , and whether the fact that your plans make a given suggestion unusable means your plans are wrong or the suggestion simply is not relevant in your case.
1. Use a strong password. A sufficiently strong wifi password makes the likelihood of hacking it through brute force attacks effectively impossible. Using a sufficiently weak wifi password, on the other hand, almost guarantees that your wireless system will be hacked at some point. 2. Dont broadcast your SSID. Serious wireless hackers who know what they are doing will not be deterred by a hidden SSID – the “name” you give your wireless network. Configuring your wireless router so it doesnt broadcast your SSID does not provide “real” security Lorenzo Insigne Italy Jersey , but it does help play the “low hanging fruit” game pretty well. A lot of lower-tier security crackers and mobile malicious code like botnet worms will scan for easily discovered information about networks and computers, and attack those that have characteristics that make them appear easy to compromise. One of those is a broadcast SSID, and you can cut down on the amount of traffic your network gets from people trying to exploit vulnerabilities on random networks by hiding your SSID. Most commercial grade router/firewall devices provide a setting for this. 3. Use good wireless encryption. WEP is not exactly “good” encryption. With a freely available tool like aircrack Lorenzo De Silvestri Italy Jersey , you can sniff wireless traffic protected by WEP and crack security on that network in a matter of minutes. WPA is the current, common encryption standard you should probably be using – though, of course Leonardo Bonucci Italy Jersey , you should use something stronger as soon as it becomes available to you. Technology is advancing every day, on both sides of the encryption arms race, after all. 4. Use another layer of encryption when possible. Dont just rely on wireless encryption to provide all your security on wireless networks. Other forms of encryption can improve the security of the systems on the network Graziano Pelle Italy Jersey , even if someone happens to gain access to the network itself. For instance, OpenSSH is an excellent choice for providing secure communications between computers on the same network, as well as across the Internet. Using encryption to protect your wireless network does not protect any communications that leave the network Giorgio Chiellini Italy Jersey , so encryption schemes like SSL for dealing with e-commerce Websites is still of critical importance. The fact youre using one type of encryption in no way suggests you should not be using other types of encryption as well. 5. Shut down the network when its not being used. This bit of advice is even more dependent on specific circumstances than most of face Giacomo Bonaventura Italy Jersey , too. If you have a mobile device such as a laptop that you carry around with you and use in public, you should have the wireless network interface turned off by default. Only turn it on when you actually need to connect to a wireless network. The rest of the time, an active wireless network interface is nothing more than another wifi hacking vector for hackers to use as a t