So you’re convinced that you have to secure your WiFi. Good, now we can make some progress. In the previous post, I mentioned using a password. This is the first step is making sure that unauthorized users will not be able to connect easily.
In most cases, people use WEP, or Wired Equivalent Privacy. While this provides a certain level of protection, WEP is relatively easier to crack. If a hacker is persistent enough, WEP will give way quite easily. As such, I suggest using WPA (Wireless Protected Access) or WPA2 instead. Either way, you will need to indicate an encryption key. As with other instances wherein you have to choose a password, choose one that is hard to guess. Long encryption keys that are combinations of letters and numbers are the best kind.
Another thing that you should do is to change the default SSID (Service Set Identifier) name. This is what computers used to detect available wireless networks. Most laptops and mobile phones are set to automatically detect available SSIDs. If you change the default name, and turn of SSID broadcasting, users who want to connect will have to enter the name manually.
Last, you might want to disable DHCP, or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. This will require you to assign IP addresses manually. If you can do this, then you will have added security. However, if you think it’s too complicated, you can leave it. The first two tips above will already give you good enough security for everyday purposes.
Categories: IT Security Basics, Wireless Security
I didn’t realize that there are still a lot of people who do not really pay attention to securing their WiFi at home. I guess that I have always taken it for granted that once you set up any connection for home use, you install passwords and other measures to protect it. Apparently, in this day and age, not everyone has the same idea.
My colleague was telling me, just last week, that his connection at home seems to be running exceptionally slowly. First thing I asked him: are you using a wireless router? When he said yes, I asked him about a password. Just as I guessed, he said “What password?â€
I moved to a new building a month or so ago and have been having problems having wired Internet hooked up. I have a mobile dongle which I can use to a certain extent but guess what? One day, I turned my WiFi on and voila, the laptop automatically connected to some fella’s wireless connection.
The fact is that this is such a common thing. Hotels, shops, and other establishments are also guilty of this neglect. I have a friend who works from home and is entirely dependent on the Internet. When her connection goes down, she simply gets in her car and drives to a nearby hotel where she can mooch.
It may seem funny or amusing, but if an unscrupulous individual gets wind of your unsecured WiFi, you just might get your bum bitten. If I were you, I’d make sure my WiFi is secure. How to do this? Let’s look at this in the next post.
Categories: Wireless Security
What in the world is an acai berry? If you are into fad diets, then you probably have heard of the acai berry. It is purported to be the next wonder drug, which is all natural by the way. It is supposed to make you lose weight like no other substance in existence. It is also supposed to make you feel better and younger because of its curative properties.
Anyhow, I have nothing against the acai berry fad per se. I mean, these fads come and do and it’s up to you if you want to try them or not. What is happening to me is another story, however. You see, I have somehow been victimized by the acai berry virus (or so I’d like to call it) on Yahoo messenger.
I didn’t have any inkling as to what was happening until I suddenly got this slew of offline messages last week. People on my contact list – even those with whom I had not spoken for months and months – suddenly started sending me offline messages. Their messages seemed to be in reply to something I had sent.
Yesterday, an old friend sent me an SMS saying that I might have a virus. He said that I kept sending him messages on Yahoo Messenger about this acai berry thing. Obviously, it was not me.
I am pretty sure that I am not alone in this thing. I have scoured the web for similar reports and have found a lot of other people complaining of the same thing! The solution? I scanned my laptop for malware using Spybot last night. I am about to scan again using Avast. Then I am changing my passwords. Let’s see if I can get rid of this thing.
Any suggestions?
Categories: IM, Instant Messaging, Malware, Real-World Issues
One reason that some people prefer to use Macs over PCs is the fact that the former is considered to be far more superior to the latter when it comes to security. However, that does not mean that Macs are not totally immune to security issues. As a matter of fact, security experts recently warned Mac OS X users of a security flaw that involves Java.
CNET tells us all about it:
Macintosh security consulting firm SecureMac.com on Tuesday issued a critical warning for what it says is an unpatched Java security vulnerability in Apple’s Mac OS X.
According to the man credited with discovering it, Landon Fuller, the Java flaw even affects the latest version of Mac OS X, 10.5.7, released just a week ago. Fuller has gone so far as to release a proof of concept for the security hole.
The vulnerability could be used to perform what SecureMac refers to as “drive-by-downloads,” or the ability to infect a computer by simply visiting a Web page. Fuller explains that the flaw allows malicious code to run commands with the permissions of the current user.
While the fact that a security flaw is certainly acceptable, the fact that it has remain unpatched to date is hard to understand. It is even more perplexing as the flaw had been discovered before the latest update to the OS was released. Is Apple not aware of the flaw (I seriously doubt it) or are they not seeing it as a serious threat?
Categories: News, Operating Systems
